UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DEPARTMENT  OF  UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
DEPARTMENT  OF  UNIVERSITY  EXTENSION 


EPOCHS  of  MODERN  His  TOR  v 


EDITED   BY 
C   COLBECK,  M.A 


THE    WAR    OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE 
J.  M*  LUDLOW 


EPOCHS  OF  MODERN  HISTORY. 

Edited  by  C.  COLBECK,  M.A. 
19  vols.  fcp.  8vo,  with  Maps,  price  zs.  6d.  each  volume  : — 

AIRY'S  THE  ENGLISH   RESTORATION  AND  LOUIS  XIV. 

1648-1678. 

CHURCH'S  BEGINNING  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 
COX'S  CRUSADES. 

CREIGHTON'S  AGE  OF  ELIZABETH. 
GARDINER'S  HOUSES  OF  LANCASTER  AND  YORK. 
GARDINER'S  THIRTY  YEARS'  WAR,  1618-1648. 
GARDINER'S    FIRST    TWO    STUARTS    and    the    PURITAN 

REVOLUTION,  1603-1660. 

GARDINER'S  (Mrs.)  THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION,  1789-1795. 
KALE'S  FALL  OF  THE  STUARTS,  and  WESTERN  EUROPE 

FROM  1678-1697. 

JOHNSON'S  NORMANS  IN  EUROPE. 
LONGMANS'  FREDERICK  THE  GREAT  AND  THE  SEVEN 

YEARS'  WAR. 

LUDLOW'S  WAR  OF  AMERICAN  INDEPENDENCE,  1775-1783. 
MCCARTHY'S  EPOCH  OF  REFORM,  1830-1850. 
MOBERLY'S  THE  EARLY  TUDORS. 
MORRIS'S  AGE  OF  ANNE. 
MORRIS'S  THE  EARLY  HANOVERIANS. 
SEEBOHM'S  PROTESTANT  REVOLUTION. 
STUBBS'S  THE  EARLY  PLANTAGENETS. 
WARBURTON'S  EDWARD  THE  THIRD. 


LONGMANS,     GREEN,     AND     CO. 

LONDON,  NEW  YORK,  AND  BOMBAY 


iso     i     160    n    140   m    120    rv    100     v     eo    yr  \GO     vn    40    vtn   20    r 


THE    WO  RLD 

(17  7O) 


Brit 
I  Fret' 
!  Port 


ISO        I       160      JI      140       m     120       .IV    100        V      80        VI      60       VH      40      VTH     20 


Longmans,  Green. 


i  pr  D  i  JA  N 

r7 

I  L.££-rmM\ 1 


0         X       20       XL      40      Xff      60      XIII     80     XIV     100     XV    120     XVI     140    XV11    16 O.  XMtt  ISO 


Epochs  of  Modern  History 


THE    WAR 

OF 

AMERICAN   INDEPENDENCE 

1775-1783 


BY 

JOHN  MALCOLM  LUDLOW 

AUTHOR   OF   "A   SKETCH    OF   THE   HISTORY   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES    FROM 

INDEPENDENCE   TO   SECESSION,"    "PRESIDENT   LINCOLN 

SKLF-POURTRAYED,"    ETC. 


WITH     FOUR     MAPS 


IMPRESSION 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

39    PATERNOSTER    ROW,     LONDON 

NEW  YORK  AND   BOMBAY 

1902 

All   rights    reserved 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY . 

f  AGf 

Why  the  vrai   of  American  independence  forms  an  ^pocb  in 
history x 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE   AMERICAN   COLONIES   (TO    1763) 

R&ces  inhabiting  the  colonies a 

I    THE  RED  MAN 3 

What  the  Indian  is 3 

What  he  was  ;  towns,  agriculture 4 

Arts  ;  written  language  ;  observation  of  nature       .         .  4 

Languages          6 

Forms  of  government 6 

Inferiority  of  women 7 

Beliefs 7 

Mode  of  warfare         .         .         .         .         .         .         .    .  8 

Absence  of  the  pastoral  element 8 

Code  of  morals  .........  9 

Capacity  for  endurance 9 

influence  of  the  Indian  element  on  the  colonists         .    .  10 
General   character    of  relations   between    the   red   and 

•vhite  man  .........  *x 


271157 


vi  Contents. 

PAGB 

Distinctions  between  the  Latin  and  Teutonic  races  in 

relation  to  the  red  man  .  .  .  .  .  .  12 

Roman  Catholic  nations  most  successful  in  Christianising 

the  red  man.  ........  12 

Most  powerful  tribes,  Iroquois,  Cherokees,  and  Creeks  .  13 

[I.  THE  WHITE  MEN 14 

1.  The  Spaniards 14 

i.  The  Spaniards.     England  and  Spain  the  only  Conti 
nental  powers  in  North  America 14 

Early  Spanish  discoveries        ......  14 

Settlement  of  Florida 15 

Occasional  warfare  with  England 16 

Spain's  position  in  America  after  the  treaty  of  Paris,  1763  16 

2.  The  French 16 

Importance  of  the  French  element  ....  16 

Early  discoveries  and  settlements        .         .         .         .     .  17 
Heroic  missionaries  and  heroic  adventurers  ;  Cavalier  de 

laSalle 18 

Progress  of  France  in  the  Mississippi  valley        .         .    .  19 
Cape  Breton  colonised ;  extension  of  French  colonisa 
tion  in  the  west ;  New  Orleans    .         .         .         .         .20 

What   France   had    done :    scanty   population   of    her 

colonies  .         .        .        .         .        .        .        .        .    ,  21 

In  the  coming  war,  the  French  colonists  will  side  with 

the  English 22 

The  Indians  will  do  the  same 22 

3     The  English 22 

The  North  American  continent  discovered  by  England  .  23 

The  English  colonies 23 

The  northern  and  southern  groups 23 

Southern  group  •  the  thirteen  colonies  and  their  limits    .  24 

Distinctions  between  the  colonies  of  the  southern  group  25 

Three  sub-groups 26 

i.    Virginia           ........  26 

The  name  formerly  wider  than  now        .         .         .    .  26 

Early  attempts  at  colonisation  by  Gilbert  and  Raleigh  26 
The  London  Company  ;  a  colony  established  ;  House 

of  Burgesses 37 


Contents.  vii 

PAOi 

John  Smith ;  Pocahontas 28 

Indian  wars  ;  the  Stuart  kings 28 

Submission  to  the  Commonwealth  ;  growth  of  ianded 

aristocracy  .........  29 

The  Restoration  ;  Bacon's  Rebellion  .                           .    .  30 

Distress  of  the  colony     ...                 ...  31 

Return  of  prosperity 31 

2»  Maryland      .........  32 

Liberal  charter  :  Lord  Baltimore 32 

Early  prosperity  :  troubles  with  Clayborne     .         .         -33 
Commonwealth  ;    Restoration  ;  Maryland  after  1688  a 

royal  government     .         .         .         .         .         .         .    .  34 

Similarity  to  Virginia 34 

3  &  4.    The  Carolina*    .         .         .         .         .         .         .    .  34 

Early  charters  ;  Shaftesbury  and  Locke's  'grand  model '  35 

Turbulent  early  history  of  these  colonies.    Slavery  .         .  35 

The  colonists  break  up  Indian  civilization  in  Florida  .    .  36 

Indian  wars  ;  the  Carolinas  become  colonies,  1729         .  37 

5.   Georgia 37 

The  last  founded  colony 37 

Oglethorpe  ;  his  charter  and  his  government .         ,         -37 

Hostilities  with  Spain 38 

Failure  of  Oglethorpe' s  plans 38 

6  &  7.  New  York  and  New  Jersey 39 

New  York  the  centre  of  a  sub-group       .         .         .         -39 
Hudson  at  Manhattan   Island  ;  the  New  Netherlands  ; 

New  Amsterdam     .         .         .         .        .         .        .    .  39 

New  Sweden  ;  eventually  annexed  to  the  New  Nether 
lands  ..........  40 

The  Dutch  territory  conquered  by  England,  and  divided 

into  New  York  and  New  Jersey       .         .         .         .    .  41 

History  of  New  Jersey  soon  connected  with  that  of  Penn 
sylvania       41 

8  &  9.  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware       .         .         .        «    .  42 
Pennsylvania  the  last  founded  of  the  religious  colonies    .  42 
The  Quakers  in  America  ;  Penn  ;  Philadelphia  ;  Dela 
ware    42 

The  Pennsylvania  constitution  ;  Penn's  proprietary  rights 

confiscated  in  1688  .        .                 43 


viii  Contents. 

fcAO* 

to,  ii,   12,   13.   Afc«;  England:    Massachusetts t    Connect icutt 

Mew  Hampshire,  and  Rhode  Island 43 

Early  attempts  at  settlement 43 

The  '  Pilgrim  Fathers     .         .         .         .         .         .         -43 

Their  compact  before  landing 44 

Early  difficulties     .                  ......  45 

Relations  with  the  Indians  ;  Massasoit ;  Canonicus        .  46 

The  Indians  degenerate ,  •  47 

Settlement    of    New   Hampshire,    Massachusetts    Bay, 

Rhode  Island  ;  Roger  Williams 48 

Rapid  growth  of  Massachusetts ;  Vane  and  Mrs.  Hut- 

chinson 48 

Settlement  of  Connecticut ;  the  Pequod  war       .         .    .  49 
Cruel  fate  of  Miantonomo  the  Narragansett   .         .         .50 
The  '  United  Colonies  '  of  New  England   .         .         .    .  50 
The  oppressive  conduct  of  Charles  I.  leads  to  a  federa 
tion     50 

Massachusetts  during  the  Commonwealth  .         .         .    .  51 

The  Restoration 53 

King  Philip's  war        .         .         .         .         .         .         .    .  =52 

Struggle  of  Massachusetts  against  the  Restoration  Go 
vernment.     The  Revolution  of  1688    .         .         .         -54 

Warfare  with  the  French  till  1748 54 

III.  THE  BLACK  MAN 55 

Growth  of  slavery 56 

Royal  slave  traders  ;  the  Asiento 56 

Support  of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade  by  the  mother 

country 57 

General  Colonial  History,  1748-64 38 

Connexion  of  King  George's  War  with  Franklin        .    .  58 
Benjamin  Franklin  ;  the  author  of  the  first  military  or 
ganization  in  the  colonies 58 

The  '  French  and  Indian  War '  ;  George  Washington    .  59 

Franklin's  proposed  congress 60 

General  Braddock's  defeat 61 

Conquest  of  New  Brunswick  ;  expulsion  of  the  Acadians  62 

French  successes 63 


Contents  ix 

PAGE 

The   French   defeated  ;    Canada  conquered  ,    Peace   of 

Paris 62 

Pontiac's  war 63 

The  colonies  in  1763 64 


CHAPTER    III. 

CAUSES    OF    DISCONTENT.-— STRUGGLE    BEFORE    'I HE    WAR 

(I763-75)- 

Montcalm's  prediction 64 

Mingled  loyalty  and  disaffection  of  colonies       .         .         .         .64 

The  Navigation  Laws .    .  65 

Struggle    against    the    Navigation    Laws,  in    New    England 

especially 65 

The  coming  contest  prefigured 66 

Other  causes  of  discontent 67 

Mutual  complaints  between  the  mother  country  and  the  colonies  68 
The  attempt   to  raise   a  revenue  from  the   colonies  ;  George 

Grenville 68 

The  colonial  Revenue  Act 69 

Protests  of  the  colonists  ;  Otis  ;  Samuel  Adams    .         .         .    .  69 

The  Stamp  Act,  1765 69 

Patrick  Henry's  resolutions *  7° 

A  congress  convened  ;  riots  at  Boston  and  elsewhere         .         .  71 
Independence  already  spoken  of;  New  York  Congress  and  its 

proceedings 71 

The  Stamp  Act  cannot  be  carried  into  effect     .         .         .         .72 

The   Rockingham   Cabinet ;    Pitt   rejoices   that  America    has 

resisted      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •     •  73 

The  Stamp  Act  repealed,  1766  ;  the  Declaratory  Act        .         .  73 

Rejoicings  in  the  colonies      .         .         .         .         .         .         .    .  74 

Further  obnoxious  measures 74 

The  Quartering  Act.     Suspension  of  the  New  York  Assembly  .  75 

The  Chatham  Cabinet,  1766-8 76 

Renewed   agitation  in  the   colonies  ;    non-importation   agree 
ments  ;  French  intrigues        .         .         .         .        ,         .         .  76 
TTie  Boston  Convention         .         .         .         .         .         .         ,    .  78 


Contents 


Troops  sent  to  the  colonies  ;  Hillsborough's  and  North's  policy  . 

feelings  of  Washington  (1768-9) 78 

Spread  of  non-importation  agreements  ;  the  Boston  massacre  .  79 

Lord  North  attempts  a  compromise  ;  the  Tea  Act  (1770)  .        .  79 

The  burning  of  the  '  Gaspee,'  1772 80 

The  committees  of  correspondence  ;  destruction  of  tea  at  Bos 
ton  (1772-3). 80 

Indignation  of  parliament ;  the  Boston  Port  Act .         .        .    .  81 

Other  repressive  measures 3a 

Protests  of  Virginia  and  Massachusetts  ;  a  Congress  called  .    .  83 

The  Continental  Congress  at  Philadelphia  (Sept.  1734)     .        .  84 

Washington  still  disclaims  the  idea  of  colonial  independence    .  85 

The  Massachusetts  provincial  congress  ;  raising  of  troops        .  86 
I^arge  majorities  in  parliament  against  concession  ;  Chatham's 

warnings 87 

Lord  North's  new  measures  ;  the  prohibition  of  trade  extended  88 

Massachusetts  prepares  for  war  ;  a  collision  barely  averted       .  89 
Virginia  prepares  for  war  ;  Washington  ready  to  devote  his  life 

to  the  cause 89 

The  train  ready  for  the  spark qo 


CHAPTER    IV. 

1775- 

Fhe  colonial  powers »  90 

Europe 91 

France  and  Spain  the  only  powers  directly  interested  in  the 

American  struggle     .         .         .        » 94 

France  the  intellectual  centre  of  Europe  ;  Voltaire,  Rousseau  .  94 

Sense  of  a  coming  revolution    .......  95 

The  new  reign  in  France  a  hopeful  one ;  Turgot  and  Males- 

herbes.     The  corn  riots  of  1775                  96 

French  sympathy  with  America  preceded  the  American  Revolu 
tion 97 

Special  grounds  for  such  sympathy  ;  admiration  for  England  .  07 

America  for  France  an  ideal  England 98 

Influence  of  the  partition  of  Poland  .        .        .        .        .        .99 


Contents.  xi 

PAGE 

England 99 

.  The  Jacobite  party  extinct 99 

George  III 100 

Wilkes,  Junius,  Chatham,  Burke,  Fox  .  100 
Literature  and  art  :  Johnson,  Hume,  Gibbon,  Cowpcr,  Mac- 

pherson,  Walpole,  Sheridan,  Reynolds,  Gainsborough  .  .  101 
Industry  :  the  inventors — Strutt,  Hargreaves,  Arkwright,  Watt, 

Wedgwood,  Flaxman 101 

Chemistry  and  Priestley ;  engineering-  Brindley,  Smeaton  .  .  102 

Growth  of  population  ;  improved  agriculture  ;  Arthur  Young  .  103 

Two  boys  of  six,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and  Arthur  Wellesley  .  103 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE   WAR  :    FIRST    PERIOD  ;    TILL  THE   FRENCH   ALLIANCE 
(1775-8). 

The  war  :  divided  into  two  periods  by  the  French  alliance  .  104 
The  first  shot ;  battle  of  Lexington,  April  18-19,  *775  •  •  IO4 

The  whole  country  astir  ;  Boston  invested 105 

Surprise  of  Ticonderoga,  May  10  .  .  .  .  .105 

Second  Continental  Congress  ;  a  Continental  army  voted  .  .  106 
General  Gage  proclaims  martial  law  ;  Washington  commander- 

in-chief 106 

Washington 106 

Battle  of  Bunker's  Hill,  June  :i,  1775 107 

Washington  in  command  ;  his  difficulties  .  .  .  .  .  108 
Proceedings  in  the  south  ;  the  governors  on  board  ship  .  .no 
Last  attempts  at  conciliation  by  Congress  ;  Richard  Perm  and 

the  '  Olive  Branch ' 1 1 1 

Proclamation  against  rebellion  ;  application  to  German  princes 

for  troops      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .111 

The  English  people  do  not  appreciate  the  crisis    .         .         .    .   na 

Debates  in  parliament  ;  Lord  George  Germain  ;  the  ministry 

supported 112 

The  General  Prohibition  of  Trade  Act ;  votes  for  German  troops  113 
America  receives  with  divided  feelings  the  proclamation  against 

rebellion 114 

The  invasion  of  Canada  by  Montgomery 114 


xii  Contents. 

PAGE 

Arnold  ;  the  failure  before  Quebec  (Dec.  31,  1775)         .         .    .  115 
Lord  Dunmore  in  Virginia  ;  Norfolk  burnt  (Jan.  i,  1776)  ;  the 

American  flag .         .  116 

Washington's  difficulties  continue 116 

Boston  evacuated,  March  1776 117 

Measures  of  Congress  ;  resolution  against  the  slave  trade  ;  free 

trade 118 

America  secretly  aided  by  France  and  Spain     .         .         .         .118 
Dissolution  of  the  old  colonial  governments  ;  Declaration  of 

Independence  proposed 119 

British  attack  on  Fort  Moultrie  ;  American  disasters  in  Canada  ; 

the  retreat 120 

Washington  at  New  York  ;  miserable  state  of  the  army        .    .  121 
Arrival  of  a  British  fleet,  and  of  royal  commissioners        .         .122 

The  Declaration  of  Independence,  July  4,  1776     .         .         .    .  122 

A  paragraph  relating  to  slavery  and  the  slave  trade  struck  out  .  124 
Declamatory  character  of  the  Declaration  ;  its  unfairness  .         .124 

The  Declaration  in  fact  one  of  war        .        .        .        .         .    .  126 

Its  influence  on  foreign  countries 126 

Its  enthusiastic  reception  in  America    .         .         .         .         .     .  126 

The  need  of  union  still  scarcely  felt.     Postponement  of  the  plan 

of  confederation      .         .                ......  127 

The    royal     commissioners     and    Washington  ;     New    York 

threatened         ..........  127 

Battle  of  Long  Island,  August  27,  1776 128 

Discouragement  of  the  troops ;  Washington's  position  desperate  129 
Fruitless  peace  conference  ;  New  York  evacuated  (Sept.  15)     .  130 
Congress  raises  a  new  army  to  serve  during  the  war      .         .    .  131 
General  Howe's  advance  ;  Fort  Washington  taken  (Nov.  16)    .  131 
Washington's  retreat  through   New  Jersey  ;  Rhode  Island  re 
covered  by  the  British  ;  results  of  the  campaign     .         .         .  132 
Indignation  caused  in  England  by  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  ;  Franklin  in  Paris  ;  John  the  Painter      .         .         .    .  133 
Outcry  in  America  against  Washington.    Reed  and  Lee  ;  Lee's 

capture 133 

Disaffection  in  Pennsylvania  ;  Washington's  temporary  military 

dictatorship 134 

The  surprise  of  Trenton,  Dec.  25,  1776     .         .         .         .         .  135 
The   battle  of  Princeton,  January  1777  ;   New  Jersey  nearly 

recovered  ...........  136 


Contents.  xiii 

MOV 

Washington's  winter  difficulties  ;  smallpox  disastrous      .         .  136 
The  ravages  of  the  British  alienate  the  people       .        .  .   137 

Foreign  volunteers  ;  they  become  a  difficulty   ....  137 

The  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  ;  Kosciusko 138 

Lord    Chatham's    reappearance ;    expedition     from    Canada 

decided  on 139 

Burgoyne's  advance  ;  at  first  successful 140 

Battle  of  Bennington,  August  16,  1777 140 

Battle  of  Brandywine,  Sept.  n,  1777    .         .         .        .        .    .   141 

Philadelphia  occupied  by  the  British,  Sept.  26  ;  battle  of  Ger- 

mantown,  Oct.  4 141 

Renewed  outcry  against  Washington 142 

The  battles  of  Stillwater,  Sept.  19,  Oct.  7         ....  142 

Burgoyne's  surrender  at  Saratoga,  Oct.  16 143 

Gates  and  Washington .144 

Rejoicings  in  England  over  the  occupation  of   Philadelphia  ; 

Chatham's  inconsistency .    .   144 

Gloomy   impressions   produced    by   the  Saratoga    surrender ; 

France  ready  to  treat  with  America 145 

Sense  of  an  impending  crisis  ;  the  king  has  forebodings        .    .   146 
The  scheme  of  Confederation  adopted  by  Congress,  Nov.  15, 

1777      ...  H7 

Impotency  of  Congress 147 

Washington's  miserable  winter  at  Valley  Forge          .         .         .   147  • 

Inaction  of  the  English 148 

The  treaty  between  France  and  America,  February  6,  1778       .   149 
The  theatre  of  the  war  enlarged 149 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  WAR  .    SECOND  PERIOD  ;    FROM  THE  ALLIANCE  WITH  PRANCE 
TILL  THE   END   OF   THE   WAR    (1778-83). 

France  and  the  treaty 149 

Lord  North's  conciliatory  bills 150 

The  king  will  not  have  Lord  Chatham  as  premier         .         .    .  151 

Death  of  Chatham,  May  n.  1778 132 

Preparations  for  war  with  France .        .         ,        .        .        .    .  153 


xiv  Contents. 


PAGE 

Rejoicings  over  the  treaty  in  America        .....   153 

Reception  of  the  Conciliatory  Bills 154 

Arrival  of  the  royal  commissioners  (June  4,  1778)     .         .         .   154 

The  evacuation  of  Philadelphia  ordered 155 

Philadelphia  evacuated ;  battle  of  Monmouth  (June  28) ;  Lee 

and  Washington ...   156 

Articles  of  Confederation  signed  by  several  States  .  .  .  157 
D'Estaing  and  the  French  investment  of  Newport  .  .  .  157 
Indian  massacres  ..........  158 

Failure  of  the  peace  commission 158 

The  war  in  other  quarters  ;  Keppel ;  Paul  Jones;  Hyder  Ali  .   158 
Increasing  impotency  of  Congress  ;   it   solicits    French    '  pro 
tection  '...........   159 

British  operations  in  the  South.     Savannah  taken  (December 

29),  and  Georgia  recovered 161 

South  Carolina  invaded,  and  Charleston  threatened  (May  1779)   161 
Washington's  army  during  the  winter  of  1778-9.     Defensive 
campaign  ...........   162 

General  Sullivan  devastates  the  Iroquois  country       .         .         .164 

The  British  in  Penobscot  Bay       . 164 

Congress  appoints  peace  commissioners    .....    165 

The  war  in  Europe  uneventful       .......   165 

Spain's  backwardness  in  going  to  war        .....   165 

War  convention  between  France  and  Spain,  April  12,  1779  .  .  166 
The  north-western  territory  coveted  by  Spain,  but  occupied  by 

the  backwoodsmen 167 

England  ready  for  war  with  Spain,  but  impatient  of  that  with 

America.     The  king's  obstinacy 168 

Siege  of  Gibraltar  ;  the  combined  fleets  in  the  Channel     .         .168 

Paul  Jones's  sea-fight  ;  vast  scale  of  the  war 169 

Failure  of  the  French  and  Americans  before  Savannah,  October 

9.  1779 170 

Rhode  Island  evacuated  by  the  British  ;  Charleston  taken 

(May  12,  1780),  and  South  Carolina  subdued  .  .  .  .  171 
Another  gloomy  winter  for  Washington,  1779-80.  Supineness 

of  the  Americans  .  .  . 172 

The  war  at  sea  ;  Rodney 174 

Nelson  in  Central  America.  England's  quarrel  with  Holland  .  175 

The  armed  neutrality  .  . 176 


Contents. 


xv 


PAGB 

Ireland  ;  the  Yorkshire  Committee ;  the  Protestant  Association 

and  Lord  George  Gordon 177 

Burke's  plan  of  Economic  Reform  ;  Dunning's  resolution  .  178 
The  London  No-popery  riots,  June  2-8,  1780  .  .  .  .  179 
Spanish  negotiations  stopped  by  the  riots  .  .  .  .180 
The  war  in  South  Carolina  ;  battle  of  Camden  (August  16,  1780)  180 
Cornwallis's  march  into  North  Carolina  checked.  American 
partisans.  Greene  in  command  .  .  .  .  .  .  181 

Little  doing  in  the  North 183 

Arnold's  treason,  Sept.  1780 183 

The  war  in  India  and  at  sea,  1780 185 

The  new  Parliament ;  war  with  Holland  declared,  Dec.  20,  1780  185 

The  war  in  Europe,  1781 185 

Seizure  of  St.   Eustace,  Feb.  3,   1781  ;   the  war  in  the  West 

Indies,  Florida,  and  India,  1781 186 

France  anxious  for  peace.  Mediation  of  Austria .  .  .  187 
Washington's  army  during  the  winter  of  1780-1.  Mutinies  .  188 
The  crisis  tided  over;  the  Articles  of  Confederation  finally 

signed,  March  i,  1781 189 

Greene  in  the  South.  Battle  of  the  Cowpens,  Jan.  17,  1781  .  190 
Lord  Cornwallis  advances  again  into  North  Carolina,  Greene 

retreating ioc 

Battle  of  Guilford  Court  House,  March  15,  1781  ;  Cornwallis 

falls  back  to  the  coast 191 

La  Fayette  and  Arnold  in  Virginia.     Cornwallis  leaves  Wil 
mington  (April) 192 

Greene  recovers  the  greater  part  of  South  Carolina  .  .  .  192 
Proceedings  in  parliament  ;  Fox  and  the  younger  Pitt .  .  .  194 
Weakness  of  America  ;  subserviency  to  France  .  .  .194 
Cornwallis  in  Virginia.  He  withdraws  to  Yorktown  (August 

1781) 194 

Battle  of  Eutaw  Springs,  September  8,  1781  ;  the  war  at  an  end 

in  the  South 195 

Arnold  in  Connecticut  (September) 196 

Junction  of  Washington  and  the  French  ;   operations  on  the 

Chesapeake  decided  on 196 

The  march  to  Virginia,  Au£Tist  1781     .        .         .        ...   196 

Yorktown    invested,    September    28  :    Cornwallis  surrenders, 
October  19 197 


xvi  Contents. 

too* 

Rejoicings  in  America ig8 

Proceedings   in  parliament  ;    the   ministers  fiercely    attacked  ; 

meetings  against  the  war 198 

The  war  almost  everywhere  disastrous  to  England.     Minorca 

lost  (Feb.  7,  1782) 199 

Weakness  and  fall  of  Lord  North's  ministry  (March  20,  1782) .  200 
The  second  Rockingham  ministry ;  Shelburne  treats  with 

Franklin        ....  201 

America  so  reduced  that  she  cannot  believe  in  peace    .        .    .  202 

The  crown  offered  to  Washington  202 

Rodney's  victory  in  the  West  Indies  (April  12,  1782)  .  .  .  203 
The  Shelburne  ministry  ;  evacuation  of  Savannah  (July  12)  .  203 
Active  warfare  confined  to  the  dege  of  Gibraltar  .  .  .  204 
Progress  of  negotiations  ;  preliminary  articles  of  peace  between 

England  and  America,  Nov.  30,  1782        .         .         .         .    .  204 
Opening  of  parliament,  Nov.  5  ;  the  king's  speech    .         .         .  205 

The  French  troops  return  to  Europe 206 

Preliminaries  of  peace  with  France  and  Spain,  Jan.  20,  1783  .  206 
Peace  with  Holland  and  with  Tippoo  Sultan  ....  207 
Fall  of  Shelburne  ;  the  coalition  ministry  (April  2,  1783)  .  .  207 
Discontent  of  Washington's  officers.  Cessation  of  hostilities 

(April  17,  1783) 208 

Congress  threatened  by  mutineers         ...         ...  208 

Ratification  of  the  treaties,  Sept.  3,  1783  ;  the  slave  question    .  208 

Evacuation  of  New  York,  Nov.  25,  1783 209 

Washington's  farewell  to  his  officers  ;  he  is  thanked  by  Con 
gress 210 

Cost  of  the  war 210 

What  England  had  done 211 

Results  of  the  war  for  the  different  races an 

(1)  The  Red  man  driven  back 211 

(2)  Advance  of  the  White  man 212 

(3)  The  Black  man  ;  what  he  got  from  the  Americans  .  .212 
The  Black  man  badly  treated  by  the  English     .         .                 .21,, 
How  the  Black  man's  wrongs  will  avenge  themselves                 .214 


Contents.  xvii 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE   PARADOXES  OF  THE   WAR,    AND   ITS  TRUE  CHARACTER. 

PAGB 

England's  success  seemingly  impossible 215 

England  was  often  on  the  verge  of  triumph 215 

Puzzles  to  be  explained 217 

Reliance  of  the  English  on  the  loyalists         .         .         .         .    .  217 

Inadequate  support  really  afforded  by  the  loyalists   .         .         .219 
incapacity  of  the  American  politicians  .         .         .         .         .    .  220 

Supineness  and  want  of  patriotism  of  the  people       .         .         .221 
Why  did  England  fail  .........  223 

Incompetency  of  British  generals  no  sufficient  reason        .        .  223 

Ministerial  incapacity  no  sufficient  reason 224 

Importance  of  the  foreign  aid  supplied  to  America    .        .        .  226 
The  war  ceased  when  the  English  nation  thoroughly  under 
stood  its  character 227 

Early  popularity  of  the  war  the  result  of  ignorance  .  .  .  227 
The  popularity  of  the  war  never  but  skin-deep  .  .  .  .  228 
Contrast  with  feelings  called  out  by  war  with  France  and  Spain  228 
The  war  in  fact  a  duel  between  Washington  and  George  III.  .  230 
American  success  impossible  without  Washington  .  .  .  230 
George  III.  the  centre  of  English  resistance  to  American  inde 
pendence  230 

In  such  a  duel,  Washington  must  win 232 

Character  of  Washington's  greatness    .        .        .        .        „    .  232 

Washington  and  Wellington  compared 233 

Washington  a  thorough  Englishman  ......  234 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1783- 

State  of  the  world 234 

The  balance  of  power  but  slightly  affected  by  the  war        .     .  234 
New  political  events  since  1775  outside  of  the  war  .         .         .  235 
Other  events       •-•'."••        •        •        •        •        •        «        .     .  235 

M.H.  a 


xviii  Contents. 

PAGE 

Voltaire's  return  to  Paris  (Feb.  1778)       .        .         .         .         .  235 

Voltaire's  death,  May  30,  1778 236 

Rousseau's  death,  July  i,  1778         .        .  .        .         .  236 

Financial  ruin  of  France 236 

The  heroes  of  the  day  in  France,  and  those  of  the  future         .  237 

Germany ;  sympathy  with  America     .         .         .         .         .  237 

England  :  the  literary  world 237 

The  political  world      .........  237 

America 238 


Quotations  for  which  no  source  is  indicated  are  derived  from 
Mr.  Bancroft's  '  History  of  the  United  States.' 


LIST   OF   MAPS. 

THE  WORLD .    •    Tcfact  TitU 

BRITISH  COLONIES  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  .      „    page  24 

NORTH  AMERICA  BEFORE  THE  WAR  .        .    *      „       ,.    66 

AFTEK  THE  WAR      ,  «.                        210 


THE 

WAR   OF   AMERICAN    INDEPENDENCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

THE  war  of  American  Independence  deserves  on  several 
grounds  to  be  deemed  an  epoch  in  history.         why  the 

It  was  the  first  instance  in  modern  times  of  war  of 
the  successful  revolt  of  a  colony  against  the  indepen-" 
mother-country.  %%S£** 

It  was  followed  by  a  series  of  more  or  less  in  history. 
similar  revolts,  which  stripped  France  of  her  largest  re 
maining  colony  in  the  western  world,  deprived  Spain 
of  the  whole  of  her  possessions  on  both  continents  of 
America,  and  have  probably  not  yet  been  brought  to  a 
close,  as  the  pending  Cuban  insurrection  seems  to  show. 

It  created  the  first  independent  state  on  either  Ameri 
can  continent  which  had  existed  since  the  downfall  of  the 
great  Indian  kingdoms  of  Mexico  and  Peru  in  the  six 
teenth  century. 

By  depriving  England  of  her  most  important  colonies 
in  America,  it  shifted  the  centre  of  gravity  of  her  colonial 
empire  from  the  western  to  the  eastern  hemisphere. 

Through  the  share  taken  by  France  in  the  strugglef 

M. .  H.  B 


2          The  War  of  American  Independence.      ^n 

and  its  influence  on  public  opinion  in  that  country,  it 
contributed  largely  to  the  French  Revolution,  and 
thereby  to  the  complete  transformation  of  the  political 
and  social  state  of  Europe,  which  has  resulted  therefrom, 
and  which  is  still  going  on. 

It  laid  the  foundation  of  a  polity  which  is  the  first 
realisation  in  history  of  a  federal  republic  on  a  large 
scale  ;  which  exhibits  features  previously  unprecedented 
in  the  records  of  political  experience  ;  but  which  has  in 
turn  been  largely  followed. 

It  has  virtually  altered  the  whole  theory  of  the  relations 
of  colonies  to  the  mother-country. 

By  splitting  the  English  race  into  two  nations,  it  has 
doubled  its  influence  on  the  destinies  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE  AMERICAN   COLONIES   (TO    1763). 

WE  think,  and  think  rightly  of  the  war  of  American  in 
dependence  as  of  a  struggle  between  thirteen  English 
Races  in  colonies,  and  England  their  mother-country, 
habiting  the  Yet,  besides  the  English,  several  other  races 
had  contributed  to  build  up  the  English 
colonies  ;  Dutch  in  New  York,  Swedes  and  Fins  in  Dela 
ware  and  New  Jersey ;  French  on  almost  every  outskirt ; 
Spaniards  to  the  far  south  ;  a  scattering  of  Germans  in 
Georgia,  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey.  Among  all 
these,  the  Dutch  is  the  only  race  that  has  shown  any 
persistent  force,  giving  for  instance  a  President  to  the 
Republic  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Van  Buren. 

Behind  them  all  lay  another  element,  which  can 
scarcely  be  said  to  have  entered  into  the  composition  of 
the  American  people,  so  slight  has  been  the  mixture  of 


1763.  'fb*  Red  Man.  3 

blood  between  the  white  man  and  the  red,  but  which 
must  have  acted  powerfully  from  without  on  the  for 
mation  of  the  American  character.  This  element  is  found 
in  the  North  American  Indians,  or  Red  Men,  whom 
European  colonists  found  in  the  seventeenth  century  on 
the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  whom  they  are 
now  exterminating  from  those  of  the  Pacific. 

And  in  the  midst,  another  race  foreign  to  the  conti 
nent  had  been  introduced  by  European  colonists,  destined 
to  grow  up  and  multiply  ;  amongst  the  white  men  but 
not  of  them  ;  a  leaven  of  discord,  a  ferment  which  should 
some  day  seethe  and  bubble  into  civil  war — the  black 
men  of  Africa,  imported  as  slaves. 

Let  us  consider  each  type  in  turn,  taking  as  the  start 
ing  point  of  our  survey  the  year  1 763,  the  date  of  the  Peace 
of  Paris.  At  this  period  the  common  danger,  arising  from 
the  presence  of  France  on  the  North  American  continent, 
which  had  hitherto  united  the  English  colonists  and  the 
mother-country,  had,  as  will  hereafter  be  seen,  passed 
away;  and  their  jarring  interests  began  to  come  out  more 
distinctly.  We  will  begin  with 

I.    THE  RED  MAN. 

The  North  American  Indian  is  for  most  persons  now- 
a-days,  and  not  unjustly  so,  the  embodiment  of  the  un- 
tameable,  irreclaimable  savage.  Under  his  what  the 
highest  aspects,  we  scarcely  see  him  but  as  a  Indian  ls- 
wandering  robber  ;  under  his  lowest,  as  a  lazy,  filthy, 
drunken  vagabond,  crawling  about  like  vermin  on  the 
outskirts  of  civilisation.  From  what  he  is,  would-be 
philosophers  spin  theories  as  to  why  he  is  so,  and  invari 
ably  conclude  that  it  is,  and  always  must  have  been,  his 
manifest  destiny  to  be  swept  away  before  the  white  man, 
his  superior.  It  is  probable,  indeed,  that  no  influence 
now  in  the  world  can  stop  the  extermination  of  the 


4         The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

Indian  race — a  few  tribes  acknowledged  as  *  civilised ' 
perhaps  excepted  —  within  the  Great  Republic.  But 
justice  is  due  to  the  dead,  to  the  dying,  to  the  dumb,  still 
more  than  to  the  living  and  the  healthy,  who  can  speak 
for  themselves.  And  history  shows  us  the  red  man  in  a 
very  different  light  from  that  in  which  we  see  him  now. 

When  the  European  first  met  with  the  North 
American  Indian,  he  was  no  irreclaimable  savage.  He 
What  he  was;  ^ac^  settled  abodes,  villages,  towns  ;  a  Fran- 
towns,  agri-  ciscan  monk  speaks  of  a  village  of  seven  or 
eight  thousand  souls  in  what  is  now  Illinois. 
So  far  from  being  mere  wandering  hunters,  Mr.  Ban 
croft  expressly  says  that  <  all  the  tribes  south  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  except  remote  ones  on  the  north-east  and  the 
north-west,  cultivated  the  earth.  The  Iroquois  or  Five 
Nations,  who  long  defied  the  power  of  France,  dwelt 
in  fixed  places  of  abode,  surrounded  by  fields  of  beans 
and  of  maize.'  Strachey,  in  his  '  Historie  of  Travaile 
into  Virginia/  tells  of  the  Indians  of  the  coast,  how 
*  about  their  houses  they  have  commonly  square  plots 
of  cleared  ground,  which  serve  them  for  gardens,  some 
I oo,  some  200  foote  square/  The  knowledge  of  two  of  the 
main  products  of  American  agriculture  at  the  present  day, 
maize  and  tobacco, — products  which  have  overspread  the 
world, — is  due  to  these  irreclaimable  savages. 

Without  the  use  of  iron,  they  built  huts,  boats,  pali 
sades  for  fortification,  wove  mats  and  embroidered  them, 
Arts;  written  drew  thread  from  the  wild  hemp  and  the 
oJJSJXion  nettle?  wrought  feather  mantles,  nets,  baskets, 
of  Nature,  fish-weirs,  dressed  skins  to  exquisite  supple 
ness,  made  pottery,  prepared  various  brilliant  pigments. 
The  snow-shoe,  the  vapour  bath,  and,  above  all,  the  pipe, 
appear  to  be  of  their  invention.  They  stored  for  the 
winter,  fruits,  maize,  dried  buffalo  meat,  smoked  fish. 
They  had  a  kind  of  written  language,  consisting  of 


The  Red  Man.  5 

strings  of  shells  known  by  the  name  of  wampum.  The 
office  of  the  herald,  bearer  of  the  peace-pipe,  was  sacred 
among  them.  They  were  careful  observers  of  Nature ; 
their  power  of  interpreting  her  phenomena  has  been 
described  as  almost  miraculous.  In  striking  contrast  with 
the  Australian  black,  whose  skill  as  a  path-finder,  equally 
wonderful  at  first  sight,  has  been  found  to  depend  so 
completely  on  the  retentiveness  of  his  memory  that, 
when  taken  into  a  strange  district,  he  is  utterly  help 
less,  the  expertness  of  the  Red  Indian  rests  upon 
generalisations  of  a  truly  scientific  character,  enab 
ling  him  to  make  his  way  through  a  perfectly  un 
known  country  with  almost  the  same  accuracy  as  through 
one  with  which  he  is  familiar.  He  is  a  geographer  by 
instinct,  not  only  understanding  maps  when  shown  to 
him,  but  tracing  them  rudely  for  himself.  Thus,  the 
latest  writer  who  has  had  opportunities  of  observing  the 
Indian  whilst  yet  un degraded,  Mr.  Joaquin  Miller,  says  : 
'All  Indians  are  great  travellers.  ...  A  traveller  with 
them  is  always  a  guest.  He  repays  the  hospitality  he 
receives  by  relating  his  travels,  and  telling  of  the  various 
tribes  he  has  visited,  their  extent,  location,  and  strength. 
.  .  .  Telling  stories,  their  history,  traditions,  travels,  and 
giving  and  receiving  lessons  in  geography,  are  their 
great  diversions  around  their  camp  and  wigwam  fires 
at  night.  .  .  .  Geography  is  taught  by  making  maps  in 
the  sand  or  ashes  with  a  stick.  For  example,  the  sea  a 
hundred  miles  away  is  taken  as  a  base.  A  long  line  is 
drawn  there,  and  rivers  are  led  into  the  sea  by  little 
crooked  marks  in  the  sand.  Then  sand  or  ashes  are 
theaped  or  thrown  in  ridges  to  show  the  ranges  of  moun 
tains.  This  tribe  is  defined  as  having  possessions  of 
such  and  such  an  extent  on  the  sea.  Another  tribe 
reaches  up  this  river  so  far  to  the  east  of  that  tribe  ;  and 
so  on,  till  a  thousand  miles  of  the  coast  are  mapped  out 


6         The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.DU 

with  tolerable  accuracy.'  Hence  those  raids  which,  in 
the  days  when  the  red  men  were  numerous  on  the  eastern 
coast,  used  to  terrify  the  colonists,  when  parties  of  two 
or  three  braves  only  would  travel  hundreds  of  miles  to 
carry  back  a  few  scalps. 

If  we  look  to  language  alone  as  a  basis  of  nationality, 
they  formed  nations  rather  than  tribes.  Although  the 
Lan  ua  es  Algonquin  language  spread  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Mississippi,  and  from  Cape  Fear  to  the 
Esquimaux  country,  over  sixty  degrees  of  longitude  and 
over  twenty  of  latitude,  still  within  this  vast  region  the 
Huron-Iroquois  occupied  a  large  tract  of  country,  about 
Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario,  besides  a  smaller  one  in 
North  Carolina.  To  the  south,  the  Mobilian  language 
extended  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Southern  Mississippi. 
Cherokees  and  others,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned 
the  Natchez,  a  tribe  of  Mexican  origin,  towards  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  formed  subordinate  families  or 
branches  of  more  westerly  races. 

Their  forms  of  government  were  various.  When  the 
white  men  came  in  contact  with  them,  they  had  republican 
Forms  of  confederacies  like  that  of  the  Five  Nations 
government.  (Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondaguas,  Cayugas, 
and  Senecas),  extending  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  what 
is  now  Virginia ;  or  that  of  the  Creeks  which  almost 
joined  the  limits  of  the  former,  extending  from  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico  to  Cape  Fear.  They  had  despotisms,  as 
among  the  Natchez,  or  again,  such  as  that  of  Powhatan, 
described  by  William  Strachey  as  the  '  great  emperor  of 
Virginia/  at  '  the  least  froun  ;  of  whose  brow  the  greatest 
would  tremble,  and  whose  majesty  would  sometimes 
strike  *  awe  and  sufficient  wonder  in  our  people.'  Chief 
tainship  was  generally  hereditary  in  the  female  line. 
Among  the  Natchez  and  Hurons  the  chiefs  formed  a 
caste,  as  being  descended  from  the  sun.  But  the  council, 


1763. 


Man. 


to  which  all  grown  men  were  admitted,  with  right  of 
speech,  must  have  formed  everywhere  a  strong  counter 
poise  to  any  hereditary  or  caste  rights. 

The  rights  of  the  sexes  were  not  equal  ;  the  woman 
was  little  more  than  a  beast  of  burthen,  generally  a  slave. 
She  was  the  sole  tiller  of  the  ground,  and  inferiority 
ingatherer  of  the  harvest  ;  all  household  work  of  wcmen- 
was  hers  ;  she  carried  the  game,  the  wood,  the  hut  and 
its  contents  on  a  journey.  '  The  greatest  toils  of  the  men 
were  to  perfect  the  palisades  of  the  forts,  to  manufacture 
a  boat  out  of  a  tree  by  means  of  fire  and  a  stone  hatchet, 
to  repair  their  cabins,  to  get  ready  instruments  of  war 
or  the  chase/  and,  it  must  be  added,  the  toils  of  the 
chase  itself,  and  of  war. 

They  had  a  universally  diffused  faith  in  the  immor 
tality,  if  it  may  be  so  termed,  of  life  in  every  living  thing, 
and  in  the  existence  for  every  kind  of  animal 

.      ,  .  Beliefs. 

of  some  typical  exemplar,  larger  and  more 
powerful  than  all  other  creatures  of  the  same  kind,  called 
the  manitou.  These  manitous  became  chief  objects  of 
worship,  one  man  chiefly  venerating  the  manitou  of  the 
buffalo,  another  the  manitou  of  the  bear,  etc.  Besides 
these,  however,  all  nature  was  filled  for  them  with  spiritua 
presences,  and  one  Great  Spirit  was  generally  acknow 
ledged  as  ruling  above  all,  though  too  high  for  worship. 
As  usual  with  savage  nations,  the  deities  really  wor 
shipped  were  those  whose  malevolence  was  most  to  be 
feared.  The  war  god,  in  particular,  was  appeased  by 
human  sacrifices  ;  and  the  frightful  tortures  usually 
inflicted  on  prisoners  taken  in  war  seem  to  have  been 
more  or  less  of  a  sacrificial  nature.  They  had  medicine 
men,  or  sorcerers,  who  claimed  to  be  familiar  with  the 
secrets  of  the  unseen  world.  The  Natchez  kept  up  a 
sacred  fire. 

Revenge  was  a  leading  Indian  virtue,  and  was,  indeed, 


8         The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

an  hereditary  duty.  That  which,  perhaps,  most  alienated 
Mode  of  the  white  man  from  the  Indian  was  the 
warfare.  character  of  his  warfare,  turning  mainly  upon 
surprises.  The  Red  Indian's  glory  consists  not  in  fight 
ing  his  enemy,  but  in  killing  him,  and  carrying  off  his 
scalp  as  a  trophy.  Hence  he  will  never  meet  him  in 
open  fight  if  he  has  a  chance  of  slaughtering  him  unawares 
or  asleep ;  nor  would  he  shrink  from  carrying  off  the 
scalp  of  the  woman  and  the  child,  if  it  be  not  worth  his 
while  to  carry  the  women  or  children  themselves  off  as 
prisoners.  Still,  he  was  not  guilty  of  indiscriminate 
scalp-hunting  like  the  head-hunting  of  the  Dyak  of  Bor 
neo,  who  cannot  marry  till  he  has  cut  off  a  head,  it 
matters  not  whose  if  not  of  his  own  tribe. 

One  great  cause  which  seems  to  have  retarded  the 
development  of  the  Indian  races  of  North  America  was 
Absence  of  ^e  absence  of  the  pastoral  element,  and  of 
the  pastoral  tamed  animals  larger  than  the  dog.  Yet  even 
in  this  respect  they  have  given  the  lie  to  those 
who  treat  them  as  unteachable.  Since  the  European 
has  introduced  the  horse  into  America,  whole  tribes 
of  Indians  have  become  as  thorough  horsemen  as  the 
wandering  Arab  or  Tartar.  Again,  when  in  the  beginning 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  settlers  of  South  Carolina 
invaded  Florida,  they  found  the  Indians  round  St.  Mark's 
in  possession  of  cattle.  Anyone  who  chooses  to  read 
that  black  page  of  American  history  which  records  the 
driving  of  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  out  of  Georgia  will 
find  that  the  latter  at  least  were,  as  indeed  they  are  still, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  civilised  people,  engaged  in 
agriculture  and  trade,  and  with  a  written  language  of 
their  own — an  irrefragable  proof  that  the  Red  Indian  is 
no  irreclaimable  savage,  but  has  only  been  forced  by  the 
white  man  to  become  so.  Indeed,  even  in  their  least 
advanred  condition  the  Indians  have  never  been  slow  in 


The  Red  Man.  9 

availing  themselves  of  those  resources  of  civilisation  which 
suit  the  condition  of  a  race  hunted  out  wherever  it  is  not 
hunted  down,  and  compelled  always  to  stand  in  an  atti 
tude  of  self-defence.  They  have  exchanged  the  stone 
tomahawk  for  the  steel  one,  the  bow  and  arrows  for  the 
musket  or  rifle,  the  ignition  of  wood  by  friction  for  the 
lucifer-match. 

Their  code  of  morals,  says   a  writer  whom   I  have 
already  quoted,  Joaquin  Miller,  '  consists  chiefly  of  a  con 
tempt  of  death,  a  certainty  of  life  after  death,     code  of 
temperance  in  all  things,  and  sincerity.     Their     morals- 
fervid  natures  and  vivid  imaginations  make   the  spirit- 
world  beautiful  beyond  description,  but  it  is  an  Indian's 
picture.  .  .  Woods,  deep,  dark,  boundless,  with  parks  of 
game  and  running  rivers  ;  and  above  all  and  beyond  all, 
not  a  white  man  there.7 

In  the  courage  of  endurance,  no  race  of  men,  except 
the  Northmen  of  Europe,  seem  ever  to  have  equalled 
them.  In  nothing  was  this  more  shown  than  Capacity 
in  the  tortures  inflicted  upon  captives  when  forendu- 
they  were  not  adopted  into  their  captors'  tribe. 
These  were  expected,  whilst  fastened  to  the  stake, 
lacerated,  mutilated  in  every  way,  not  only  to  give  way  to 
no  groan  or  sign  of  pain,  but  to  chant  their  war-song  and 
boast  of  their  exploits  and  those  of  their  tribe  against  their 
enemies.  On  a  large  scale,  the  same  endurance  has 
been  exhibited  by  the  whole  race  in  its  struggles  against 
the  white  man.  If  it  be  true,  as  American  writers  are 
of  opinion,  that  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  North 
America  the  Indians  south  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  east 
of  the  Mississippi  were  not  more  than  200,000  in  number, 
the  stubbornness  of  their  resistance  has  been  something 
incredible.  A  mere  fragment  of  the  old  Creek  confederacy, 
the  Seminoles  of  Florida,  maintained  as  late  as  1835-39 
a  harassing  war  against  the  United  States.  In  our 


IO       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.JX 

own  days  a  Modoc  war  has  been  carried  on  in  the  west 
against  the  American  people  by  literally  a  score  or  two  of 
Indian  warriors.  Cheered  by  no  hope  of  ultimate  tri 
umph,  the  red  man  has  never  counted  the  odds  against 
him,  and  at  ten  to  one,  at  a  hundred  to  one,  has  fought  on  a 
fight  which  after-ages  will  perhaps  recognise  as  the  most 
heroic  of  which  history  bears  record,  if  his  courage  rather 
than  his  manner  of  waging  it  be  considered. 

It  will  easily  be  seen  how  strong  an  influence  upon 
the  colonists  of  North  America  must  have  been  exercised 
influence  of  by  the  presence  of  the  Indian  element,  through 
eiemenl^n  the  necessities  of  constant  watchfulness,  and 
the  colonists,  almost  constant  warfare,  against  such  enemies. 
The  Indians  were  always  too  few  to  overpower  a  settle 
ment,  except  in  its  very  beginnings  ;  but  a  few  raiders 
were  enough  to  keep  hundreds  of  miles  of  settlements  in 
a  state  of  disquietude.  The  Red  Indian  was,  as  it  were, 
the  whetstone  on  which  the  courage,  the  wits,  and  alas ! 
too  often  the  ferocity  of  the  white  man  were  sharpened 
for  two  centuries.  The  Spaniard  found  in  Hispaniola  a 
population  which  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  gentlest 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  and  which  perished  off  the  face 
of  the  earth  almost  without  striking  a  blow.  In  Mexico 
he  found  one  not  devoid  of  bravery,  but  accustomed 
to  obey,  which  accepted  his  sway  after  a  few  sharp 
struggles.  But  further  north,  the  Englishman,  Dutch 
man,  Frenchman  found  himself  confronted  by  a  race  of 
the  most  stubborn  tenacity,  for  the  most  part  passion 
ately  fond  of  theii  freedom,  full  of  individual  hardihood, 
each  man  a  host  in  himself,  having  to  be  quelled  or  killed 
one  by  one.  White  weaklings,  white  cowards,  were  no 
match  for  them.  The  discipline  of  the  soldier  was  of 
small  avail  against  them.  The  only  colonists  that  could 
prosper  in  their  neighbourhood  must  be  such  as  could 
fight  and  win  their  own  battles. 


rhe  Red  Man.  It 

The  history  of  the  relations  of  the  Indian  tribes  with 
the  European  settlers  varies  little.  As  a  rule,  the  new 
comers  are  well  received  at  first  by  the  natives,  „ 

J    .  '  General  cha- 

except  where  distrust  has  been  excited  by  the  racter  of  re- 
previous  visits  of  white  kidnappers.     Contracts  ^eenSthe" 
and  treaties  are  entered  into  before  each  party  red. and 

...  .  white  man. 

thoroughly  understands  the  other's  meaning, 
and  sooner  or  later  these  treaties  are  sure  to  be  differently 
interpreted  by  them.  Quarrels  ensue,  almost  universally 
provoked  by  the  white  man  ;  massacres  are  perpetrated, 
seldom  on  one  side  alone  ;  perhaps  what  the  white  man 
calls  a  war  breaks  out,  which  seldom  lasts  more  than 
a  campaign,  ending  in  the  white  man's  victory,  and  in 
some  fresh  treaty,  which  the  red  man  understands  a 
little  better  than  the  first,  and  hates  all  the  more.  The  In 
dian  is  pressed  back  and  back  ;  perhaps  allows  himself  to 
be  driven  into  some  angle  of  land,  with  the  sea  in  his  rear, 
Now  he  feels  himself  doomed ;  but  almost  invariably 
another  fierce  struggle  has  to  be  gone  through,  in  which 
he  attempts  to  use  the  white  man's  all-powerful  weapon, 
organisation  ;  but  it  is  too  late,  and  he  is  finally  crushed, 
either  into  slavery  or  death.  The  story  indeed  changes  a 
little  when  white  men  of  different  races  or  faiths  settle  in 
each  other's  neighbourhood,  and  gradually  come  into 
contact.  Here  the  Indian  becomes  valuable  as  an  ally, 
and  his  aid  is  contended  for  by  both  parties  ;  he  is  kept 
in  leash  as  it  were,  to  be  let  loose,  when  the  day  of  con 
flict  comes,  in  all  his  savagery  upon  the  white  enemy, 
and  upon  his  own  red  kinsmen  who  may  side  with  the 
latter.  But  if  this  state  of  things  may  protract  for  a  time 
the  existence  of  the  tribe  as  a  power,  it  does  not  the  less 
hasten  the  extermination  of  the  race  through  the  white 
man's  wars.  Sooner  or  later  the  one  white  race  triumphs 
finally  over  the  other,  and  from  that  day  the  fate  of  the 
red  man  is  sealed 


12       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

Still,  a  difference  is  to  be  observed  between  the 
colonisation  of  the  Latin  races  on  the  one  hand,  and 
Distinctions  of  the  Teutonic  races  on  the  other.  The 
La'tTn  Mdhe  former»  as  a  rule,  enslave  rather  than  exter- 
Teutonic  minate  the  native  races  ;  the  latter  extermi- 
reStSonto  nate  far  more  than  they  enslave.  Again, 
the  red  man.  as  a  consequence  of  preserving  the  native 
races  by  slavery,  the  former  easily  amalgamate  with 
them ;  the  latter,  because  they  exterminate,  have  none 
to  amalgamate  with.  Thus,  although  the  first  madness 
of  ferocious  cupidity  in  the  Spaniard  may  have  swept 
away  the  natives  of  the  West  India  islands,  and  led  to 
many  a  massacre  by  the  hands  of  the  early  '  Conquista- 
dores,'  it  is  certain  that  throughout  the  whole  of  the 
Spanish  possessions,  both  in  North  and  South  America, 
the  Indian  population  has  subsisted  to  this  day,  mingling 
more  and  more  in  blood  with  its  conquerors.  Even 
without  such  admixture  it  has  risen  gradually  once  more 
in  the  social  scale,  till,  as  now,  the  whole-blood  Indian 
race  is  found  constantly  at  its  very  summit,  especially 
in  Central  America  and  Mexico,  to  which  it  has  given 
one  who  may  perhaps  be  her  last  hero — Juarez.  In 
North  America,  again,  the  French  mingled  freely  with 
the  natives ;  and  thus  one  of  the  most  adventurous 
classes  of  the  population  in  what  is  now  British,  and 
was  French,  America  is  that  of  the  Canadian  voyageurs, 
largely  composed  of  half-breeds. 

This  result  has  been  no  doubt  owing  in  great  part 
to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  It  must  be  admitted 
Roman  that,  however  heroic,  and  even  temporarily 
nations°inost  successful,  may  have  been  the  efforts  of  indi- 
successfui  in  vidual  Protestant  missionaries  among  the  red 

Christian  is-  .  . 

Ing  the  red     men,  they  have   in  most  cases    been  either 

spasmodic   and  intermittent,  or  their  results 

have  been  annihilated  by  some  selfish  act   of  the  civil 


1763.  The  Red  Man,  1 3 

power,  such  as  the  displacement  of  the  whole  Indian 
population.  There  is  nothing  similar  to  the  wholesale 
Christianising — whatever  may  have  been  the  means 
employed,  and  however  low  the  grade  of  Christianity 
imparted — of  the  Indians  in  the  Spanish  colonies,  or 
to  the  vast  network  of  French  missions  in  Northern 
America,  and  to  their  wide-spreading  influence  over  the 
natives.  It  is  impossible  to  read  without  horror  the 
story  of  the  massacre  of  Se'bastien  Rasles,  the  last  of 
the  French  missionaries  in  New  England,  who  had 
gathered  round  him  a  flourishing  village  of  Abenakis, 
with  a  church  and  two  chapels.  Hounded  on  to  their 
bloody  work  by  a  Government  reward  of  ioo/.  for 
each  Indian  scalp,  a  party  of  New  Englanders,  after 
pillaging  and  setting  fire  to  village  and  church,  left 
him,  mangled  by  many  blows,  scalped,  his  skull  broken 
in  several  places,  his  mouth  and  eyes  filled  with  dirt. 
(1724.) 

In  1763,  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  the  only 
Indian  power  deserving  the  name  was  that  of  the  Five 
Nations.  These  had  become  Six  Nations,  Most  power- 
since  the  migration  of  the  Tuscaroras  from  fid  tribes, 
Carolina  in  1715,  and  their  adoption  into  the  cherokees, 
Confederacy.  They  were  spread  on  both  sides  and  Creeks- 
of  the  St.  Lawrence,  from  the  region  near  Lake  Champlain 
to  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron.  The  Cherokees  were,  how 
ever,  strong  in  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee,  and  the 
Creeks  further  south.  In  the  basin  of  the  Mississippi 
the  Indian  tribes  subsisted  still,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Natchez,  who  had  been  exterminated  by  the  French,  as 
will  be  related  in  the  next  section. 


E4        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A-D. 

II.    THE  WHITE  MEN. 
i.  The  Spaniards. 

Of  the  various  European  nations  named  above  as 
saving  contributed  to  people  the  North  American  colo- 
i.  The  nies,  only  one  besides  the  English  retained, 
lng"iandand  in  X763>  a  position  on  the  continent— Spain. 
Spain  the  With  the  exception  of  the  Dutch,  the  history  of 
nentai°nl  the  others  had  merged  so  soon  into  that  of  two 
Kh8"1  or  three  of  the  English  settlements  that  it 
America.  deserves  no  separate  treatment.  The  original 
settlement  of  New  York  by  the  Dutch — unique  as  having 
grown  out  of  purely  commercial  motives — has  left  its 
stamp  to  this  day  on  that  state,  the  chief  centre  of  Ameri 
can  commerce,  and  the  head-quarters  of  the  commercial 
spirit  within  the  union. 

The  coast  of  Florida  had  been  discovered  in  1512  by 
Ponce  de  Leon,  who  took  possession  of  it  in  the  name  of 
Early  Spain  ;  but  the  first  attempt  to  form  a  colony 

Spanish  there  cost  him  his  life  (1521).  Already,  the 
year  before,  two  Spanish  slavers  had  visited 
the  coast  of  Carolina,  and  kidnapped  a  living  freight ;  but 
nere  too,  when  they  attempted  to  conquer,  the  resistance 
of  the  natives  defeated  their  efforts  (1525).  Other 
attempts  failed  equally,  though  the  last,  by  Ferdinand  de 
Soto,  resulted  in  the  exploration  of  a  large  tract  of 
country,  and  in  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  nearly 
as  far  as  its  junction  with  the  Missouri  (1539-43).  These 
Spanish  expeditions,  negative  as  were  their  results  as 
respects  the  colonising  of  the  country,  should  not  be  over 
looked.  The  wanton  cruelty  displayed  at  this  early 
period  by  the  Spaniards  may  afford  the  key  to  much  of 
the  opposition  afterwards  offered  by  the  Indians  to  colo 
nists  of  other  white  races.  In  his  adventurous  march  up 


1 562-5.  The   White  Men.  15 

the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  Soto  found  the  Indians, 
says  Bancroft,  an  agricultural  people,  with  fixed  places 
of  abode,  subsisting  upon  the  produce  of  the  fields  more 
than  on  the  chase,  neither  turbulent  nor  quarrelsome, 
The  Spaniards  enslaved  them,  would  cut  off  the  hands  of 
numbers  on  a  slight  suspicion,  threw  to  the  hounds  the 
unfaithful  or  unsuccessful  guide,  set  fire  to  hamlets  for 
any  trifling  cause,  and  sometimes  burnt  a  native  alive. 

After  these  early  discoveries,  little  more  is  known  of 
the  history  of  the  Spanish  colonies  in  North  America- 
excluding  of  course  Mexico— except  at  those  Settlement 
few  points  of  time  when  it  touches  that  of  the  °f  Florida. 
French  or  English.  Spain  indeed  had  given  up  all 
efforts  for  colonising  Florida,  when  hatred  to  French 
Huguenots  made  her  resume  them.  An  attempt  at  colo 
nisation  by  a  party  of  these  was  made,  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  on  the  coast  of  what  is  now 
Carolina,  a  name  first  derived  from  a  fort  erected  by  these 
settlers  in  honour  of  Charles  IX.  of  France.  This  at 
tempt  was  made  in  accordance  with  the  plans  of  Admiral 
Coligny,  the  great  champion  of  the  Huguenots.  Two 
colonies  were  founded  (1562  and  1564),  but  home-sickness 
broke  up  the  first,  the  Spaniards  exterminated  the  second. 
The  Spanish  commander  professed  to  hang  the  French 
men,  f  not  as  Frenchmen,  but  as  Lutherans.'  When  the 
news  of  the  disaster  reached  France,  a  Gascon  soldier, 
Dominic  de  Gourgues,  fitted  out  three  ships  with  which 
he  sailed  for  the  American  coast  (1568),  and  ravaged  the 
Spanish  settlements,  hanging  up  in  turn  his  prisoners, 
*  not  as  Spaniards,  but  as  traitors,  robbers,  and  mur 
derers/  But  this  time  the  Spaniards  kept  their  ground, 
and  the  town  of  St.  Augustine,  founded  by  them  in  1 565, 
is  the  oldest  in  the  United  States. 

Although,   under   the    name   of  Florida,   Spain  laid 
claim  to   the   whole   of  the  coast   northwards,   Canada 


16       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

included,  there  is  little  more  to  be  said  of  the  history  of 
the  Spanish  settlements  on  the  northern  coast  of  the 

Occasional  ^U^  °^  Mexico.  *n  l&%6  WC  find  the  Spa- 
warfare  with  niards  again  destroying  a  Protestant  settle- 
England.  mentj  this  time  of  Scotch  Presbyterians,  as 
far  north  as  Port- Royal.  Ten  years  later  (1696)  Pensa- 
cola  is  founded  by  three  hundred  Spaniards  from  Vera 
Cruz,  to  become  a  border  town  of  West  Florida.  The 
rest  of  the  story  of  Spanish  Florida  belongs  really  to  the 
history  of  the  neighbouring  English  colonies.  It  is 
sufficient  to  say  that,  in  1763,  when  the  treaty  of  Paris 
concluded  that  wide-spreading  Seven  Years  War  whose 

centre  lies  in  the  struggle  between  Frederick 
tion'h?  P<  '*"  the  Great  of  Prussia  and  the  combined  forces 
aftenES  °^  Austria  and  France,  Spain,  as  the  ally 
treaty  of  of  France,  gave  up  Florida  to  England, 

receiving  in  exchange  from  France  Louisiana 
beyond  the  Mississippi.  Whatever  right  Spain  thereby 
acquired  merged  in  her  own  indefinite  claims  to  terri 
tory  in  North  America  as  the  sovereign  of  Mexico. 
The  settled  population  of  Florida  is  said  to  have  sunk 
by  this  time  to  a  few  hundreds. 

2.  The  French. 

Although  the  French  flag  had,  by  1763,  been  swept 
from  the  mainland  of  North  America,  the  French  ele- 
importance  ment  uPon  ^  cannot  De  overlooked,  any  more 
of  the  French  than  the  Indian,  with  which,  indeed,  it  had 

ent'  shown  singular  affinity.  By  far  the  larger 
portion  of  the  romance  of  American  colonial  history 
belongs  to  the  French  settlements.  No  other  European 
nation  sends  forth  missionaries  so  devoted,  adven 
turers  so  enterprising  as  the  French.  France  gives  a 
name  to  the  St.  Lawrence  and  to  the  Mississippi ;  to 
Carolina  and  to  Louisiana  ;  to  the  Iroquois  on  Lake 


1524-34-         The  White  Men. — French.  17 

Ontario,  and  to  the  Grosventres  on  the  eastern  slopes 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  to  the  (  portage '  and  to  the 
'  prairie/  Whilst  the  English  settlers  hugged  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  French  missionaries  and  traders  were  estab 
lishing  communications  between  the  great  lakes  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Always  ready  to  spring  to  arms  on  the 
outbreak  of  every  war  between  the  two  mother-countries, 
always  seconded  by  large  numbers  of  Indian  allies,  the 
French  colonists  kept  their  English  neighbours  con 
stantly  on  their  mettle,  although  never  powerful  enough 
to  overpower  them  altogether. 

Although  France  had  not  been  first   in  the  race  of 
discovery,  her  flag  was  seen  early  on  the  shores  of  North 
America.     In  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  Earl   dis_ 
century,  Verrazzani,  an  Italian  in  the  service  coveriesand 

«**•**.«£  i  •         -i  settlements. 

of  Francis  I.  of  France,  reaching  the  coast 
about  the  latitude  of  Wilmington,  followed  it  north 
wards  to  Nova  Scotia  (1524).  A  few  years  later, 
hardy  Jacques  Cartier  of  St.  Malo  discovered  the  St. 
Lawrence  (1534),  and  settlements  were  soon  attempted 
in  the  north  of  the  continent,  though  they  only  began 
to  succeed  in  the  early  years  of  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury.  With  the  colonisation  of  Canada,  Nova  Scotia, 
and  Cape  Breton  by  the  French  this  work  has  no  con 
cern  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  southern  limits 
of  Acadia  or  New  France  (the  present  Nova  Scotia) 
extended  to  the  latitude  of  Philadelphia,  thus  covering 
the  whole  of  what  became  the  New  England  Colonies, 
and  that,  in  particular,  what  is  now  the  State  of  Maine,  as 
well  as  north-western  New  York,  was  first  settled  by  the 
French.  Moreover,  notwithstanding  one  or  two  attempts 
at  colonisation  in  the  south — such  as  that  ill-fated  one  of 
French  Huguenots  in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixteenth 
century — it  was  from  the  north  that  French  influence  in 
North  America  was  destined  to  spread.  But  this  influence 

M.  H.  C 


1 8       The  War  of  A  merican  Independence.      A.  D. 

was  no  true  measure  of  French  power.  In  1679,  tne 
European  population  of  New  France  amounted  only  to 
8,515  souls,  and  throughout  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  Indian  confederacy  of  the  Iro- 
quois  balanced  the  whole  power  of  France  in  America, 
They  were  allies  of  the  English,  and  to  their  valour,  as 
Mr.  Bancroft  admits,  the  State  of  New  York  'owes  its 
present  northern  boundary.' 

Substantially,  Canada  was  almost  as  truly  colonised 

through  religious  enthusiasm  as  the  New  England  States 

themselves.      Following  the  Franciscans,  the 

Heroic  mis-     _.        .          .    , 

sionariesand  Jesuits  (1632),  encouraged  by  the  eminent 
vemurers";  governor,  Champlain  (whose  name  has  clung 
Cavalier  d'e  to  a  beautiful  lake  in  the  State  of  New  York), 
attempted  first  the  conversion  of  the  Hurons, 
hereditary  foes  of  the  Iroquois,  then  of  the  Chippeways, 
then  of  the  Abenakis  of  Maine,  then  of  the  Iroquois  them 
selves.  They  crept  from  shore  to  shore  along  the  whole 
line  of  the  great  lakes,  frequent  martyrdom  begetting 
only  fresh  enthusiasts.  They  carried  the  French  name  to 
what  are  now  the  States  of  Michigan,  Ohio,  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  and  reached  the  Mississippi  in  1673,  floating 
down  the  great  river  in  Indian  canoes,  beyond  the  limit 
reached  by  De  Soto  long  before,  to  a  point  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Arkansas.  Close  on  their  steps  followed  adven 
turers  of  the  heroic  type,  such  as  Cavalier  de  la  Salle,  who 
in  1682  descended  the  Mississippi  to  the  sea,  planted  the 
flag  of  France  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  named 
the  territory  Louisiana  in  honour  of  him  whom  men  then 
called  Louis  the  Great,  and  then  returned  to  France  to 
press  the  establishment  of  a  colony  in  the  vast  and  fertile 
region  which  he  had  explored.  He  was  listened  to  with 
favour,  ana!  sailed  once  more  for  America  with  280  colo 
nists,  but  was  shipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  which 
ho  took  possession  of  in  the  name  of  France  (1685), 


1687-1701.      The  White  Men. — French.  19 

building  a  fort  which  he  named  St.  Louis.  From  this 
point  he  endeavoured  in  vain  to  find  the  Mississippi  in 
canoes,  made  an  excursion  into  northern  Mexico,  from 
whence  he  brought  back  five  horses  (those  animals 
having  already  gone  wild,  and  been  tamed  afresh  by  the 
Indians,  since  the  Spanish  conquest  of  Mexico).  Finally, 
with  sixteen  men,  he  determined  to  travel  back  on  foot 
to  Canada,  but  was  murdered  on  the  way  by  his  com 
panions  (1687). 

The  events  of  the  various  wars  between  England  and 
Prance  in  America  belong  rather  to  the  history  of  our 
own  colonies.  Towards  the  end  of  the  seven 
teenth  century  France  held  possession  of  the  FranceS?n°f 
whole  American  coast  and  islands  (the  eastern  the  Missis- 
half  of  Newfoundland  alone  excepted),  from 
Hudson's  Bay  and  Labrador  to  Maine,  of  Canada  and 
the  Mississippi  valley.  To  Illinois,  which  seems  to  have 
been  occupied  by  the  French  since  the  time  of  La  Salle, 
was  soon  added  a  fort  at  Detroit,  in  what  is  now  Michigan 
(1701.)  Kaskaskia  was  the  first  permanent  European 
settlement  in  the  Mississippi  valley,  gathering  round  a 
most  successful  Jesuit  mission,  where  marriages  of  French 
emigrants  with  converted  Illinois  Indians  were  solemnised 
according  to  Roman  Catholic  rites.  On  the  other  hand 
the  gallant  Canadian,  d'Iberville,  sought  in  France  for 
emigrants  to  Louisiana,  and,  more  fortunate  than  La  Salle, 
reached  safely  the  southern  coast  (1699),  and  began  at 
Biloxi  the  European  settlement  of  the  present  State  of 
Mississippi.  Missionaries  and  others  soon  descended 
the  Mississippi  from  the  north  ;  the  new  comers  in  turn 
ascended  part  of  it  ;  exploring  parties,  mostly  in  search  of 
minerals,  rambled  through  western  Louisiana,  and  to  what 
is  now  Iowa.  The  chief  settlement  was  ere  long  trans 
ferred  from  the  arid  shore  of  Biloxi  to  the  western  bank 
of  the  Mobile  river,  and  what  is  now  Alabama  began  to 


zo       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A. p. 

be  colonised.  The  possessions  of  Spain  on  the  mainland 
were  henceforth  regarded  as  commencing  only  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  last-named  river,  and  running  east 
ward  till  they  bordered  on  the  English  settlements  in  the 
debateable  land  of  Carolina. 

At  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  in  1713,  France  ceded  to 
England  Hudson's  Bay,  Acadiaor  Nova  Scotia,  and  New 
foundland,  and  agreed  never  to  '  molest  the  Five  Nations 
subject  to  the  dominion  of  Great  Britain ; ;  but  she  retained 
Louisiana,  as  well  as  Canada.  Cape  Breton  was  colo 
nised  by  French  refugees  from  Acadia  and  Newfoundland; 
and,  thanks  in  great  measure  to  her  far-spread  influence 
over  the  Indian  tribes,  France  not  only  held  her  ground, 
Cape  Breton  but  ^er  c°l°msts  advanced  their  settlements, 
colonised;  occupying  western  New  York,  establishing 
i£eTch°colo-  themselves  along  the  banks  of  the  Alleghany 
SJ^JS  ^  to  the  Ohio,  beginning  the  settlement  of  what  is 
New  now  Indiana,  and  possessing  themselves  of  all 

the  great  lines  of  communication  between  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi.  They  claimed  the 
shore  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  west,  as  far  as  the 
Rio  del  Norte ;  they  pushed  up  the  Red  River  (of  the 
south),  till  they  reached  the  Spanish  borders.  Louisiana, 
it  was  asserted,  extended  to  the  head-springs  of  the  Alle 
ghany,  the  Monongahela,the  Kenawha,and  the  Tennessee. 
New  Orleans  was  founded  by  Law's  famous  Mississippi 
Company  (1718),  and  Arkansas  began  to  be  settled.  An 
Indian  war  followed  some  years  later,  in  which  the  chief 
actors  were,  on  the  one  side,  the  Natchez  and  Chickasaw 
Indians — the  latter  allies  of  the  English — on  the  other, 
the  French  and  the  Choctaws.  The  Natchez,  after  a 
massacre  of  French  settlers,  were  destroyed,  their  chief 
(named  the  Great  Sun)  and  more  than  four  hundred 
prisoners  being  shipped  for  sale  to  St.  Domingo  (1732). 
Peace  was  made  with  the  Chickasaws  (1740) ;  but  the 


1748-63.         The  White  Men. — French.  21 

French  retained  their  country,  and  thereby  the  command 
of  the  middle  course  of  the  Mississippi,  between  Lower 
Louisiana  and  Illinois.  Another  war  with  England  left 
the  ever-unsettled  boundary  as  it  was.  The  French 
sought  to  win  favour  with  the  Iroquois  by  separately 
treating  with  them,  established  a  new  mission  south  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  and  occupied  the  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
whilst  border  conflicts  broke  out  first  on  the  Acadian  (now 
Nova  Scotian)  frontier  (1748-50),  and  then  in  the  Miamis 
and  Ohio  valley  (1752-54).  But  the  fall  of  the  French 
power  in  North  America  was  at  hand.  What  follows  is 
so  mixed  up  with  the  history  of  the  great  hero  of  Ameri 
can  independence  that  it  need  not  be  here  dwelt  upon. 
It  is  enough  to  say,  that  the  Peace  of  Paris  left  nothing  to 
France  in  North  America  but  a  couple  of  islets  off  New 
foundland. 

Thus,  although  the  adventurous  spirit  of  her  sons  had 
girdled  round  the  English  settlements  to  the  north,  to  the 
west,  and  partly  to  the  south,  and  had  laid  the 
foundations  of  almost  every  one  of  the  present  France  had 
inland  States  of  the  American  republic  east  of  ^^f 
the  Mississippi,  still  France  had  only  worked  of  her 
for  England.    South  of  the  St.  Lawrence  (New 
Brunswick    and    Nova    Scotia    excepted),    the    French 
population  was  a  mere  scattering,  not  capable  even  of 
•estimation  ;  and  even  of  the  colonies  of  the  St.  Lawrence 
basin,  the  population   was   insignificant  in  comparison 
with  that  of  the  region  originally  settled  by  the  English. 
Canada    is    estimated    to    have    had,   in    1760,  65,000 
inhabitants;    in    1784,   after   a    considerable   influx    of 
loyalists  through  the  war,  113,000.      Nova   Scotia,   in 
cluding  New  Brunswick,  is  reckoned  to  have  had  13,000 
in  1764 ;  the  population  of  Cape  Breton  was  over-esti 
mated  in  1758  at  10,000.     In  the  year   1763  the  whole 
rgroup  together,  including    Newfoundland,  cannot    have 


22        The  War  of  American  Independence*     A.D. 

reached  100,000;  not  a  twelfth,  as  will  soon  be  seen,  ot 
the  population  of  the  English  colonies  proper. 

One  consequence  of  this  entire  disproportion  in  popu 
lation  between  the  English-speaking  and  the  French- 

speaking  colonies  in  North  America  was, 
coming  war,  that  the  sympathies  of  the  latter  were  sure  to 
cofonSTwill  ke  in  the  long  run  in  favour  of  any  cause  which 
side  with  the  would  hinder  their  absorption  in  the  former. 

And  since  their  struggles  had  after  all  been 
not  so  much  with  Englishmen,  as  such,  as  with  their 
neighbours  the  English  colonists,  it  followed  that  if  any 
rupture  should  occur  between  the  latter  and  their  mother- 
country,  the  sympathies  of  the  French  colonists  would 
easily  be  enlisted  on  behalf  of  that  mother-country. 
Hence  the  curious  result,  that  whilst  continental  France 
was  marked  out  by  every  feature  as  the  destined  ally  of 
the  revolted  English  colonies,  the  French  colonists  of 
what  had  been  New  France  were  carried  by  the  force  of 
circumstances  into  the  opposite  camp,  and  were  to  be 
made  loyal  subjects  of  England  by  the  very  events  which 
deprived  the  latter  of  her  English  colonies. 

And  what  was  true  of  the  French  was  equally  so  of 
the  Indians,  their  old  allies.  The  red  man's  foe  too  was 
The  Indians  not  ^e  Englishman,  but  the  English  colonist, 
will  do  the  it  was  not  the  British  parliament,  but  the 

colonial  governments,  which  had  many  a  time 
offered  rewards  for  his  scalp.  When  the  hour  of  battle 
came,  the  redskin  was  the  destined  auxiliary  of  King 
George's  pale-faces  against  his  revolted  American 
subjects. 

3.  The  English. 

The  discovery  of  the  North  American  continent  be 
longs,  if  not  to  an  Englishman,  yet  to  England.  Under 
a  patent  which  already  contemplated  occupation,  it  was 
first  touched,  far  away  to  the  north,  by  John  Cabot  in  1497. 


1497- 1 7&3-      ^**  fa  kite  Men. — English.  Z$ 

The  eastern  shore  of  part  of  the  present  United  States 

was  first  coasted,  at  least  as  far  as  the  southern 

border  of  Maryland,   by  his    son    Sebastian 

Cabot  in  1498.     Yet  it  was  not  till  eighty  years 

later  that  the  first  heroically  ludicrous  attempt  by  England. 

at  English  colonisation  on  the  American  shore  The  Eng- 

,          ,  %*       •       -TO     i  •  i          i     i«      •          hsh  colonies. 

was  made,  when  Martin  Frobisher,  believing 
that  he  had  found  an  Eldorado  near  the  pole,  tried  with  a 
fleet  of  fifteen  sail  to  found  a  settlement  north  of  Hudson's 
Straits  (1578).  Several  subsequent  attempts  were  also 
failures,  and  it  is  only  from  the  first  expedition  sent  by 
the  *  London  Company '  to  Virginia  in  1606,  that  the  per 
manent  settlement  of  North  America  by  Englishmen  must 
be  dated.  Yet  at  the  period  we  are  treating  of  (1763) 
— little  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  later — we  must 
think  of  British  North  America  as  extending  in  latitude 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  far  north,  in  longitude 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi,  and  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  Mississippi  basin  stretching  away  indefinitely 
into  the  unexplored  west. 

A  line  of  moral  demarcation,  substantially  the  same 
which    now    separates    geographically     British    North 
America  from  the  United  States,  divided  the  The  north- 
northern    colonies   conquered    from    France  southern 
from    the  southern  ones  settled  by  England,  groups. 
This  line  was  formed  by  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  chain 
of  the   Great   Lakes,  except   that    the    northern  group 
of  colonies  threw  out  a  spur   on  the  right  bank  of  the 
great   river,  comprising  Nova    Scotia  and  New  Bruns 
wick.     It  has  already  been  stated  that  of  the  northern 
group   the   population    cannot    in    1763    have  reached 
100,000.     That  of  the  southern  group,  on  the  contrary, 
has    been  variously    estimated    at    from   1,216,000    to 
1,700,000. 
The  settled  country  proper  extended  from  32°  to  44° 


24       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

north  latitude.  But  it  was  as  yet  only  a  mere  fringe  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.  In  Virginia,  the  oldest  colony,  it  did 
not  extend  further  west  than  the  Blue  Ridge.  Yet  these 
colonists  were  profitable  customers  for  the  mother  coun 
try.  They  consumed  one-sixth  of  the  woollen  manufac 
tures  of  Great  Britain,  besides  linen,  cotton,  iron,  and 
other  goods.  In  1760  their  imports  were  reckoned  to 
be  2,6n,766/.  i6s.  icWl,  or  over  2/.  a  head.  A  much 
lower  figure  is  given  for  their  exports — 761, ioi/.  us.  6d. ; 
but  this  probably  does  not  include  exports  to  foreign 
countries,  in  breach  of  the  navigation  laws.  Lord  Chat 
ham  estimated  the  profits  of  their  trade  at  two  millions  a 
year. 

Thirteen  colonies  composed  the  group  :  Massachu 
setts,  Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  known 
Southern  together  as  the  New  England  Colonies  ;  New 
group :  the  York  and  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
colonies  and  land  and  Delaware,  Virginia,  North  and  South 
their  hmits.  Carolina,  and  Georgia  ;  names  many  of  them 
of  far  larger  import  then  than  now,  when  State  after 
State  has  been  carved  out  of  either  the  original  settle 
ments  themselves  (as  Vermont  out  of  New  York,  Maine 
out  of  Massachusetts,  Western  Virginia  out  of  Virginia), 
or  out  of  the  then  unsettled  territory  claimed  by  them, 
and  including  all  the  present  central  states  of  the 
Union  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Mr.  Thaqkeray  falls 
almost  short  of  the  truth  when  he  says,  in  his  'Vir 
ginians  ' :  '  The  maxim  was,  that  whoever  possessed  the 
coast  had  a  right  to  all  the  territory  inland  as  far  as  the 
Pacific  ;  so  that  the  British  charters  only  laid  down  the 
limits  of  the  colonies  from  north  to  south,  leaving  them 
quite  free  from  east  to  west/  Such  was  the  case  in  the 
first  charter  for  Virginia.  But  the  Plymouth  charter  for 
New  England  expressly  extended  to  the  Pacific  (1620)- 
so  did  that  of  Connecticut  (1662) ;  so  did  that  of  Carolina 


1665-1763-     The  White  Men. — English.  2$ 

(1665)  ;  so  did  that  of  Georgia  (1732).  New  York,  under 
its  original  name  of  New  Netherlands,  and  New  Sweden, 
which  became  Delaware  and  New  Jersey,  had  virtually  no 
boundaries  at  all,  having  been  founded  by  companies 
with  unlimited  rights  of  settlement  on  the  American  con 
tinent.  On  the  other  hand,  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland 
were  limited  to  the  westward  from  the  first.  So  were  also 
necessarily  those  colonies  which  were  carved  out  of  others 
during  the  colonial  period  itself,  as  New  Hampshire  and 
Rhode  Island. 

Without  any  actual  line  of  division,  there  was  again 
a  moral  distinction  between  the  colonies  of  the  north 
(New  York  only  excepted)  and  those  of  the  Distinctions 
south,  with  perhaps  the  exception  of  Georgia,  between  the 

_.    , .    .  •      -    i      i      i    r          111  -I  colonies  of 

Religious  principle  had  founded  the  northern  the  southern 
colonies,  the  spirit  of  adventure  the  southern,  srouP- 
Other  characteristics  distinguishing  the  two  elements  may 
be  noted  hereafter,  but  all,  perhaps,  flow  from  that  one. 
Otherwise,  as  has  been  well  observed  by  a  recent  German 
writer,  Professor  von  Hoist,  the  thirteen  colonies  varied 
in  some  respects  '  so  widely  from  each  other  that  almost 
more  essential  differences  were  to  be  found  between  them 
than  points  of  comparison  and  resemblances.'  Their 
only  geographical  tie  was  their  separation  from  all  the 
civilised  world  besides  ;  their  only  moral  tie,  their  rela 
tion  to  a  common  mother-country.  The  sense  of  unity 
which  has  sprung  up  so  rapidly  in  our  Australian  colonies, 
while  as  yet  no  political  ties  unite  them  formally,  did  not 
exist.  There  were  no  'Americans/  as  there  are  now 
'  Australians/  or  if  the  term  was  used  it  was  by  English 
men  at  home  in  speaking  of  the  colonists,  not  by  the 
colonists  in  speaking  of  themselves.  Each  colonist,  as 
the  writer  I  have  just  quoted  justly  remarks,  was  first  a 
child  of  his  own  colony,  then  an  Englishman.  At  the 
same  time  it  must  be  said  that,  from  about  the  middle  of 


26        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.JJ. 

the  1 8th  century,  owing  partly  to  the  growth  of  population 
in  the  English  settlements,  still  more,  perhaps,  to  the 
spread  of  French  influence  along  the  whole  rear  of  them, 
there  begins  to  be  a  general  colonial  history  in  place  of 
that  of  separate  colonies. 

Let  us  now  briefly  sketch  the  growth  of  the  thir 
teen  colonies.  Historically,  it  will  be  found  that  they 
Three  sub-  resolve  themselves  into  three  sub-groups,  of 
groups.  which  Virginia,  New  York,  and  Massachusetts 
are  the  centres. 

I.  Virginia. — Precedence  of  course  belongs  to  Vir 
ginia,  the  first  founded  of  all,  the  '  Old  Dominion'  of  the 
The  name  planter,  the  '  Ole  Virginny '  of  his  slave.  The 
wkSrlhan  name  is  indeed  now  much  narrower  than  it 
now.  Was  at  first,  since  the  first  attempts  to  colonise 

the  Virginia  of  the  sixteenth  century  were  made  on  one 
of  the  islands  of  what  is  now  North  Carolina. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  abortive  attempts  of  the 
French  Huguenots  in  Carolina  paved  the  way  to  the  Eng- 
Early  at-  ^s^  c°l°nisati°n  of  America.  It  has  been  no- 
tempts  at  ticed  that  our  Raleigh  reached  France  the  year 

colonization        /•        T-\     /-«  i  /      s    \  11  i 

by  Gilbert  after  De  Gourgues'  return  (1569),  and  learnt  the 
and  Raleigh.  art  of  war  un(jer  the  great  Huguenot,  Coligny, 
the  planner  of  French  colonisation  in  Florida,  for  the 
benefit  of  his  co-religionists.  Nine  years  later  (1578) 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  Raleigh's  step-brother,  obtained 
a  colonisation  patent,  to  be  of  perpetual  validity,  if  a  plan 
tation  were  established  within  six  years.  Two  expeditions 
(1579  and  1583)  failed  ;  Gilbert  perished  in  the  second. 
Raleigh  took  up  his  step-brother's  work,  under  a  new 
patent,  and  an  actual  settlement  was  formed  (1585)  on 
Roanoke  Island,  now  in  North  Carolina.  Treachery  and 
cruelty,  however,  marked  the  brief  existence  of  even  this 
first  English  colony  ;  a  leading  Indian  chief  and  his  princi 
pal  followers  were  massacred  by  preconcert  at  an  audience, 


1585-1650.         The  Thirteen  Colonies.  27 

at  which  no  sign  of  hostility  was  shown  by  the  Indians, 
and  the  island  had  to  be  deserted  next  year.  A  second 
attempt  on  the  same  spot  (1587)  was  an  equal  failure  ;  the 
very  fate  of  the  colonists  was  never  known,  though  Raleigh 
is  said  to  have  five  times  sent  vessels  in  search  of  them. 
The  next  attempt  at  colonisation  was  on  the  shores  of 
New  England  (1602),  and  was  equally  abortive. 

The  hour  of  success  was,  however,  at  hand.  There 
was  a  strong  feeling  in  England  in  favour  of  coloni 
sation.  Two  companies  were  formed  for  the 

.  i     i       i          T         i         The  London 

purpose  ;    one  only   succeeded,   the    London  Company ;  a 
Company,  the  real  founders  of  Virginia,  whose  J°y|^eeJ: 
first  expedition  set  sail   December  19,  1606,  House  of' 

,    .        ,     ,  -          .  ,.          .  '  Burgesses. 

and  landed  on  the  shores  of  a  river  flowing 
into  Chesapeake  Bay.  Yet  the  composition  of  the  colony 
was  absurd.  There  were  four  carpenters  to  forty-eight 
gentlemen ;  only  twelve  labourers,  and  very  few  me 
chanics,  out  of  105  emigrants.  The  early  years  of  the 
colony  were  disastrous,  but  it  was  reinforced  from  time  to 
time  by  fresh  batches  of  emigrants.  Men  of  high  posi 
tion  were  sent  out  as  governors.  The  introduction  of 
tobacco  into  Europe  became  a  source  of  wealth  ;  even 
the  streets  of  Jamestown,  the  Virginian  capital,  were 
planted  with  it ;  it  was  the  usual  medium  of  exchange. 
The  first  colonial  assembly  in  the  New  World,  the  Vir 
ginian  '  House  of  Burgesses/  sat  for  the  first  time  in 
Jamestown  in  the  year  1619.  In  1622,  the  white  popula 
tion  amounted  to  about  4,000,  and  spread  nearly  150 
miles  up  the  James  River.  But  a  canker  had  alieady 
been  introduced,  which  was  some  day  to  eat  almost  into 
the  vitals  of  the  American  people.  The  first  negroes 
were  sold  as  slaves  in  the  James  River  by  a  Dutch  man 
of  war  in  August  1620.  Still,  by  1650  Virginia  held  fifty 
whites  to  one  black- 
Two  names  must  be  mentioned  m  connexion  witii 


28       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A. a 

the  early  history  of  Virginia.  One  is  that  of  John 
John  Smith;  Smith,  an  adventurer  of  genius,  who  had 
Pocahontas.  fought  the  Spaniards  in  the  Low  Countries, 
the  Turks  in  Hungary,  had  wandered  as  far  as  Egypt 
and  Morocco,  had  been  taken  in  battle  in  Wallachia, 
sent  as  a  slave  to  Constantinople,  then  to  the  Crimea, 
and  had  escaped  through  Russia  and  Transylvania.  This 
man  is  treated  by  most  historians  (but  chiefly,  it  would 
seem,  on  the  strength  of  his  own  narratives)  as  the  hero 
of  Virginian  story — 'the  Father  of  Virginia,  the  true 
leader  who  first  planted  the  Saxon  race  within  the  bor 
ders  of  the  United  States.'  A  still  more  romantic  per 
sonage  is  Pocahontas,  daughter  of  the  chief  Powhatan, 
who  married  an  Englishman  named  John  Rolfe,  was 
brought  to  England  and  received  by  King  James,  but 
died  at  Gravesend  on  her  way  back  (1617),  having  given 
birth  to  a  son,  Thomas  Rolfe,  from  whom  the  'first 
families  of  Virginia*  are  proud  to  claim  descent. 

An   Indian  massacre,  planned    by  Powhatan's  suc 
cessor,   Opechancanough,   stopped    the  growth  of  Vir 
ginian    prosperity.       In   one  hour  347   colo- 

Indianwars;  s.  *.~     /  .  .   ;"/ 

the  Stuart  msts  were  killed,  and  the  war  which  ensued, 
followed  by  sickness  and  the  return  of  many 
emigrants,  reduced  the  population  by  1624  to  1,800.  In 
the  same  year  James  I.  cancelled  the  patents  of  the 
London  Company ;  but  the  framework  of  the  colonial 
constitution  remained  on  foot,  and  to  protect  the  growth 
of  Virginian,  the  import  of  foreign  tobacco  into  England 
was  prohibited.  Charles  I.,  who  succeeded  the  next  year 
to  the  throne,  confirmed  by  proclamation  the  monopoly 
of  the  import  of  tobacco  to  Virginia  and  the  Somers 
Islands,  but  sought  by  another  proclamation  to  consti 
tute  himself  the  sole  factor  of  the  planters.  The  Vir 
ginians  were  thankful  for  their  own  monopoly,  but  steadily 
repudiated  that  of  the  king.  Under  the  governorship  o£ 


1641-52.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  29 

Sir  William  Berkeley  (1641-5)  the  colony,  reduced  indeed 
in  extent  through  the  Maryland  charter,  began  again 
to  flourish,  although  his  administration  was  marked 
by  its  second  and  last  great  Indian  war.  In  1643  the 
Assembly  enacted,  says  Bancroft,  that ( no  terms  of  peace 
should  be  entertained  with  the  Indians,  whom  it  was 
usual  to  distress  by  sudden  marches  against  their  settle 
ments.'  The  Indians  retorted  by  another  massacre,  in 
which  300  whites  perished.  In  the  warfare  which  fol 
lowed,  the  old  chief  Opechancanough  was  taken  prisoner, 
and  died  from  a  wound  inflicted  on  him  after  his  capture. 
His  successor  made  peace  (1646)  on  the  terms  of  submis 
sion  and  large  cessions  of  land.  Henceforth  any  hosti 
lities  with  the  Indians  in  Virginia  were  considered  to  be 
not  with  enemies,  but  with  rebels. 

On  the  outbreak  of  the  English  civil  war,  Virginia, 
true  to  the  aristocratic  character  of  its  original  settle 
ment,  remained  at  first  faithful  to  the  crown.  .  . 
Fugitive  Cavaliers  flocked  to  its  shores,  and  to  the  Com- 
after  the  execution  of  Charles  I.,  Sir  George  jjJSSthX^ 
Berkeley,  the  governor,  received  a  new  com-  landed  aris- 
mission  from  Charles  II.  A  fleet,  however, 
was  sent  out  by  Cromwell,  which  received  the  submission 
of  the  West  Indian  colonies,  and  on  the  arrival  of  a  single 
frigate  in  the  Chesapeake,  Virginia  in  turn  acknowledged 
the  Commonwealth,  receiving  in  exchange  practical  inde 
pendence.  Its  people  were  to  have  all  the  liberties  of  the 
freeborn  people  of  England ;  no  taxes  or  customs  were  to 
be  levied  except  through  their  representatives,  nor  any 
forts  erected  or  garrisons  maintained  without  their  consent 
(1652).  Till  the  end  of  the  Commonwealth,  Virginia 
elected  her  own  governors.  On  the  other  hand,  a  law 
which  gave  fifty  acres  of  land  to  planters  for  every 
person  whom  they  should  import  at  their  own  cost, 
tended  rapidly  to  build  up  a  landed  aristocracy  of  large 


30        The  War  of  American  independence.     A.D. 

proprietors.  Add  to  this,  that  for  many  years  Virginia, 
like  other  colonies,  was  for  the  mother-country  a  place  of 
transportation  for  offenders,  and  that  there  was  no  provi 
sion  for  education,  so  that  in  1671  Sir  George  Berkeley 
(who  had  been  re-elected  governor  at  the  Restoration) 
could  '  thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools  nor  printing, 
and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have,  these  hundred  years/  So 
Virginia  grew  up  to  be  what  it  has  been  till  within  our 
own  days,  a  land  of  great  gentlemen  and  of  'mean 
whites/ 

During  the  latter  years  of  the  Commonwealth  the 
northern  portion  of  Carolina  had  begun  to  be  explored 
The  Resto-  from  Virginia,  and  in  the  early  years  of  the 
Bacon's  Re-  Restoration  her  colonists  began  to  settle  there, 
bellion.  In  this  direction,  however,  also,  the  expansion 
of  her  territory  was  stopped  by  the  Carolina  patents 
(1663,  J  665).  The  era  of  the  Restoration  was  indeed  a 
dark  one  for  Virginia.  A  strong  partisan  Assembly  had 
been  elected,  which  acted  with  great  oppressiveness. 
Severe  penalties  were  enacted  against  nonconformists  ; 
the  suffrage  was  restricted.  On  the  other  hand,  trade 
was  crippled  by  Charles  II.'s  Navigation  Acts ;  the 
colony  was  irritated  by  a  royal  grant  to  Lord  Culpeper, 
including  lands  already  settled,  and  at  last  by  one  of 
'all  the  dominion  of  land  and  water  called  Virginia,' 
for  thirty-one  years,  to  Lords  Culpeper  and  Arling 
ton  (1673).  Some  hostilities  with  the  Indians  on  the 
Maryland  frontier  kindled  discontent  into  a  flame,  and 
gave  rise  to  the  most  remarkable  event,  perhaps,  in  Vir 
ginian  colonial  history — a  civil  war  known  as  '  Bacon's 
Rebellion/  from  the  name  of  Nathaniel  Bacon,  its  leader, 
which  assumed  a  republican  character,  and  was  for  a 
time  triumphant,  but  was  eventually  stamped  out  with 
ruthless  severity  by  Sir  George  Berkeley  (1675-7,).  The 
executions  were  continued  even  after  a  royal  proclamation 


1671-84.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  31 

bad  arrived,  promising  pardon  to  all  but  the  leader, 
Bacon.  'The  old  fool  has  taken  away  more  lives  in 
that  naked  country  than  I  for  the  murder  of  my  father' 
was  Charles  II.'s  characteristic  comment  on  Berkeley's 
proceedings. 

The  effects  of  the  insurrection  were  disastrous.  Lord 
Culpeper  was  made  governor  for  life  (1677),  and  the  go 
vernment  became  thus  a  proprietary  one.  A  rjistres$  Of 
perpetual  export  duty  of  2s.  a  hogshead  was  the  colony, 
laid  on  tobacco  for  the  support  of  the  government,  and  was 
to  be  accounted  for  only  to  the  crown.  The  Navigation 
Law  pressed  with  even  sorer  weight.  Virginia  had  in 
vain  endeavoured  to  procure  its  mitigation,  and,  when 
foiled,  had  proposed  repeatedly  to  Carolina  and  Maryland 
to  stop  the  growing  of  tobacco  for  a  year,  in  order  to 
enhance  the  price  to  the  English  consumer.  At  last  she 
solicitedthe  crown  itself  to  prohibit  the  growth  of  the  plant 
for  a  year  by  proclamation,  and  when  this  was  refused, 
mobs  began  to  root  up  the  tobacco  in  the  fields.  Between 
the  crippling  of  her  trade,  the  effects  of  the  insurrection, 
the  suppression  of  many  of  her  liberties,  and  the  madness 
of  her  own  people,  Virginia  was,  by  the  end  of  Charles  I  I.'s 
reign,  in  a  state  of  extreme  distress,  and  the  inauguration 
of  that  of  James  II.  by  an  additional  arbitrary  duty  on 
tobacco  (1685),  was  not  of  a  nature  to  mitigate  such  dis 
tress.  Voluntary  emigration  ceased,  and  the  only  addi 
tions  from  England  to  the  white  population  were  by  means 
of  transportation  and  kidnapping,  the  latter  practised 
chiefly  from  Bristol. 

Still,  with  no  foreign  neighbours  except  the  French  in 
what  was  then  the  Far  West,  and  at  peace  with  the  Indians, 
Virginia  began  to  recover  her  prosperity.  Peace  Return  of 
with  the  Indians  had  been  secured  by  the  con-  prosperity. 
elusion  of  a  treaty  at  Albany  in  1684  between  herself,  New 
York,  and  Massachusetts  on  the  one  side,  and  the  Five 


32        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

Nations  on  the  other.  The  second  in  age  of  the  educational 
foundations  of  the  United  States,  William  and  Mary  Col 
lege,  was  established  under  the  sovereigns  whose  names 
it  bears  (1692) ;  though  the  proposal  for  so  doing,  on  the 
plea  that  Virginians  had  souls  as  well  as  Englishmen,  was 
at  first  met  by  Attorney- General  Seymour  with  the  reply, 
'  Souls  !  d — n  your  souls  !  make  tobacco !'  The  Indian  title 
to  land  in  Virginia  was  extinguished  by  a  further  treaty 
with  the  Five  Nations,  now  the  Six  Nations,  at  Lancaster, 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  1 744.  The  Assemblies  continued  to  be 
in  a  state  of  chronic  opposition  to  the  governors,  but  vir 
tually  the  real  governor  and  king  of  Virginia  was  tobacco, 
in  which  taxes  were  paid,  and  which  was  wealth  to  who 
ever  chose  to  plant  it.  Thanks  to  tobacco, '  alone  of  all 
the  colonies '  Virginia  '  had  no  debts,  no  banks,  no  bills 
of  credit,  no  paper  money  ; '  but  it  had  also  no  towns  to 
speak  of,  no  villages,  no  trade,  no  manufactures,  nothing 
but  scattered  plantations,  in  which  every  man  not  a  slave 
did  very  much  that  which  was  right  in  his  own  eyes 
In  1748  it  was  believed  that  the  population  had  nearly 
doubled  itself  in  twenty-one  years. 

2.  Maryland. — With  the  history  of  Virginia  is  closely 
connected  that  of  Maryland.  Under  a  charter  of  the  year 
Liberal  1 632  (granted  after  the  cancelling  of  the  Vir- 
LordeBalti-  gin*an  patents),  a  portion  of  the  territory  corn- 
more,  prised  in  the  second  Virginian  charter  to  the 
northward,  and  partly  settled  by  Virginian  colonists,  ex 
tending  as  far  as  the  4oth  parallel  of  latitude,  was  formed 
into  a  new  colony  under  the  name  of  Maryland,  so  called 
from  Henrietta  Maria,  Charles  I.'s  queen.  With  the  for 
mation  of  Maryland  is  linked  the  memory  of  a  remark 
able  man — Sir  George  Calvert,  Lord  Baltimore,  who,  in 
an  age  of  growing  alienation  from  the  Romish  Church  in 
England,  resigned  the  secretaryship  of  state,  to  become  a 
Roman  Catholic.  He  was  a  zealous  promoter  of  coloni- 


1638-49.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  33 

sation,  had  been  a  member  of  the  Virginia  Company,  and 
had  endeavoured  to  colonise  the  southern  promontory  of 
Newfoundland.     By  the  Maryland  charter  Lord  Balti 
more   was   constituted    owner    of  the    soil,  with  power 
to  create  manors  and  courts  baron,  on  payment  of  a 
yearly  rent  of  two  Indian  arrows  and  a  fifth  of  all  gold 
and  silver  discovered.     But  he  could  only  legislate  with 
the  consent  of  the  majority  of  the  freemen  ;  his  authority 
was  not  to  extend  to  the  life,  freehold,  or  estate  of  any 
emigrant ;  Christianity  was  made  the  law  of  the  land,  but 
religious  equality  was  granted,  all  liege  subjects,  present 
and  future,  being  allowed  to  emigrate  to  the  new  colony. 
Last,  not  least,  the  crown  reserved  to  itself  no  control,  and 
expressly  stipulated  that  it  would  never  lay  imposition, 
custom,  or  tax  on  the  inhabitants  of  the  province.  In  con 
formity  with  this  singularly  liberal  charter,  the  governor  of 
Maryland  had  to  swear  that  he  would  not,  by  himself  or 
any  other,  «  directly  or  indirectly  molest  any  person  pro 
fessing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  for  or  in  respect  of  reli 
gion/  and  a  colonial  act  of  1649  enacted  provisions  to 
the  same  effect.    Lord  Baltimore  had  invited  the  Puritans 
of  Massachusetts  (who  will  be  presently  spoken  of)  to 
emigrate  to  Maryland ;  he  welcomed    those   from  Vir 
ginia,  and  at  the  same  time  the  Anglicans  whom  Massa 
chusetts  disfranchised. 

The  early  beginnings  of  the  colony  were  exceedingly 
prosperous.  The  first  emigrants,  headed  by  Lord  Balti 
more's  younger  son,  had  been  carefully  selected,  Early  pros, 
and  they  were  well  received  by  the  natives.  1 1  perity  ; 

...  1-11          ,   i        T     i'  troubles 

is  specially  recorded  that  'the  Indian  women  with 
taught  the  wives  of  the  new-comers  to  make  Clayborne- 
bread  of  maize.'    Within  six  months  the  colony  '  had 
advanced  more  than  Virginia  had  done  in  as  many  years ' 
(1634).     Sooc  afterwards,  however,  troubles  arose  with  a 
man  of  the  name  of  ClaybornCj  one  of  the  early  Vir- 
Af.  H.  t> 


34       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

ginian  settlers,  who  claimed  some  jurisdiction  under  a 
royal  license  of  earlier  date  than  the  Maryland  charter, 
and  it  was  not  till  1647,  after  hostilities  with  the  Indians, 
and  an  insurrection  which  was  for  a  time  triumphant, 
that  peace  was  eventually  restored. 

During  the  English  civil  war  and  commonwealth,  the 
government  of  Maryland  was  disputed  between  the  repre- 
Common-  sentatives  of  the  '  proprietary/  Lord  Baltimore, 
wealth ;  and  the  republican  party,  in  which  Clayborne 

Restora-  r.       .         «  ,       «  •          T 

tion ;  Mary-  was  now  a  leader;  but  at  the  Restoration,  Lord 
ieSs  aftroyai  Baltimore's  authority  was  generally  recognised, 
government.  Under  his  son,  the  second  Lord  Baltimore, 
troubles,  more  or  less  connected  with  Bacon's  rebellion  in 
Virginia,  again  broke  out.  A  restriction  of  the  suffrage 
by  proclamation  of  the  proprietary  gave  one  ground  for 
discontent ;  the  creed  of  Lord  Baltimore  was  another. 
With  the  Revolution  of  1688  the  proprietary  government 
was  swept  away,  Maryland  was  declared  a  royal  govern 
ment  (1691),  and  the  Church  of  England  that  of  the  State. 
Toleration  was  continued  only  to  dissenters,  and  the  exer 
cise  of  the  Roman  Catholic  worship  was  made  illegal. 
About  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  however,  the  govern 
ment  was  restored  to  the  Baltimores,  who  had  meanwhile 
reverted  to  the  Protestant  faith  ;  but  from  henceforth  the 
authority  of  the  proprietaries  was  but  fretfully  borne  with. 

Like  Virginia,  Maryland's  chief  staple  was  tobacco, 
Similarity  and  her  social  condition  was  very  similar ; 
to  Virginia,  g^g  ^a^  jarge  scattered  plantations,  but  few 
large  towns. 

3  &  4.  The  Carolinas. — Geography  would  lead  us  to 
connect  Delaware  with  Maryland;  but  its  history  binds  it 
rather  to  the  more  Northern  States.  On  the  other  hand, 
Carolina  occupies  much  the  same  position  towards  Vir 
ginia  to  the  south  as  Maryland  to  the  north. 

The  name,  it  will  be  recollected,  was  originally  French, 


1663-5.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  35 

though  revived  at  first  under  Charles  I.  as  Carolana, 
eventually  as  Carolina  under  Charles  II.  That 
Raleigh's  early  attempts  at  Virginian  civilisation  ters;  Shaftcs- 
were  made  on  what  became  eventually  North  L^jS^ 
Carolinian  soil  will  also  be  recollected.  The  'grand 
Carolana  charter  came  to  nothing.  A  different  m 
charter,  of  the  year  1663,  granted  the  province  of  Carolina, 
from  the  36th  degree  of  north  latitude  to  the  river 
San  Matheo,  to  seven  proprietaries,  the  first  two  named  of 
whom  were  the  Lords  Clarendon  and  Albemarle.  But 
the  whole  coast  was  claimed  by  Spain.  There  was  a 
previous  patent  of  the  year  1630;  there  were  settlers  from 
New  England  and  Virginia,  and  others  came  from  Bar- 
badoes.  A  second  and  vastly  more  extended  charter 
was  granted  in  1665  to  the  proprietaries,  which  em 
braced  eight  whole  States  of  the  present  Union,  parts 
of  three  others,  and  much  of  Mexico.  The  powers  given 
were  as  extensive  as  the  territory  itself,  and  gave  actual 
sovereignty,  including  not  only  the  right  of  legislation, 
but  that  of  making  war.  An  elaborate  constitution  or 
'  grand  model/  devised  by  Shaftesbury  and  Locke  on  an 
exaggeratedly  feudal  pattern,  with  f  starosts/  '  landgraves/ 
'  caciques/  Meetmen/  the  first  to  be  for  ever  self-elected, 
the  last  to  be  for  ever  attached  to  the  soil, '  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  their  lord  without  appeal/  was  probably 
the  most  absurd  that  had  ever  been  devised  by  the 
stupidity,  let  alone  the  philosophy,  of  mankind.  Human 
nature  itself  rebelled  against  it. 

Hence  the  peculiar  characteristic  of  the  foundation 
of  Carolina,  which  has  remained  in  a  manner  attached 
to  her  whole  history.     All  other  of  the  Ame-  Turt>uient 
rican  colonies  were  founded  under  charters ;  early  history 
in  spite  of  charters,  the  two  Carolinas  founded  colonies, 
themselves.  Their  history  begins  with  defiance  SIavery- 
of  law,  not  less  real  because  it  was  necessary.     By  the 


36        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

force  of  things  the  one  province  of  Carolina  divided 
itself  into  two  governments.  The  proprietaries  vainly 
endeavoured  to  enforce  the  '  grand  model ;'  there  was  no 
peace  till  it  was  given  up,  and  nothing  perhaps  remained 
of  it  beyond  a  provision  that  every  freeman  should  have 
absolute  power  and  authority  over  his  negro  slaves.  No 
colonies  have  a  more  turbulent  early  history.  Insurgents 
from  Virginia  found  a  refuge  in  North  Carolina,  and  soon 
fomented  an  outbreak  against  the  enforcement  of  the  navi 
gation  laws.  In  South  Carolina  too  there  were  constant 
struggles,  though  with  less  violence,  and  both  colonies  ex 
pelled  their  governors  in  1688.  South  Carolina  has  the 
grievous  distinction  of  having  been  cradled  in  the  practice 
of  slavery,  Africans  having  been  importer1  into  its  first 
plantations  in  1671.  In  a  few  years  the  blacks  in  its  terri 
tory  were  as  22  to  12  whites.  Kidnappers  as  well  as  slave- 
buyers,  the  colonists  broke  the  treaties  with  the  Indians, 
harried  them  with  what  would  be  now  termed  razzias  or 
commandos,  and  sold  them  as  slaves  to  the  West  Indies. 
A  leaven  of  French  Huguenots  in  South  Carolina  after  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685,  and  a  later  one 
of  exiled  German  Protestants  in  North  Carolina  (1711), 
seem  to  have  done  little  to  raise  the  tone  of  Carolinian 
society. 

When  the  war  of  the  Spanish  succession,  arising  from 
the  establishment  of  a  French  prince  on  the  throne  of 
Thecolo-  Spain,  broke  out,  the  English  colonists  of 
nists  break  South  Carolina  threw  themselves  upon  Florida. 

up  Indian        _.       ~          •       •,,•••,          ,  11 

civilisation  The  Spaniards  '  had  gathered  the  natives  into 
in  Florida.  townS)  built  for  them  churches,  and  instructed 
them  by  missions  of  Franciscan  priests/  The  Indians  had 
horses  and  cattle.  Fifty  volunteers,  with  1,000  Indian 
allies,  swept  down  on  the  Indian  towns  near  St.  Mark's, 
bunit  a  church,  made  150  prisoners,  including  women 
and  children,  for  the  slave  market,  received  the  submission 


1705-29.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  37 

of  town  after  town,  and  carried  the  English  flag  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  (1705).  Most  of  the  people  '  abandoned 
their  homes,  and  were  received  as  free  emigrants  into  the 
jurisdiction  of  Carolina.'  So  perished  out  of  Florida  the 
beginnings  of  Indian  civilisation. 

The  Peace  of  Utrecht,  which  concluded  the  war,  was 
in  turn  followed  by  Indian  wars  in  both  colonies,  with  the 
Tuscaroras  in  North  Carolina  (171 1-3),  with  the  indjan  wars . 
Yamassees  in  South  Carolina  (i  7 1 5) ;  the  former  the  Caro- 
caused  by  the  parcelling  out  of  the  Indians'  colonies^0™ 
lands  amongst  German  emigrants  ;  the  latter  I729< 
by  the  exactions   of  the  English  traders.     The  formeT 
ended  with  the  migration  of  the  Tuscaroras  to  the  north 
ward,  to  join  their  Iroquois  kinsmen,  who  admitted  them 
as  the  sixth  nation  in  their  confederacy  (1715)  ;  the  latter 
with  the  driving  of  the  Yamassees  into  Florida.     A  few 
years  later   (1719-20)   South  Carolina   openly  threw  ofl 
allegiance  to  the  proprietaries,  who  eventually  sold  their 
rights  to  the  crown  (1729).     Both  colonies  now  became 
royal  ones. 

5.  Georgia. — As  Carolina  had  been  carved  out  of  Vir 
ginia,  so  was  the  southernmost  and  the  westernmost  of 
the  colonies,  Georgia,  out  of  Carolina.     The  1^1^ 
story  of  this,  the  last  formed  of  the  British  founded 
colonies  of  North  America,  reads  like  a  page  of  cc 
the  annals  of  the  early  half  of  the  seventeenth  century 
transterred  to  that  of  the  eighteenth. 

James  Oglethorpe  was  a  member  of  an  old  English 
family.  He  had  served  as  a  volunteer  in  the  army  of  Prince 
Eugene,  and  had  taken  part  in  his  campaigns  against  the 
Turks  on  the  Danube.  He  had  shown  in  England  his 
sympathy  for  the  oppressed;  for  he  had,  in  Oglethorpe; 
Parliament,  taken  up  the  cause  of  prisoners  for  !jjfdc£fsrter 
debt,  and  by  obtaining  a  commission  for  in-  government, 
quiring  into  the  jails  of  the  kingdom,  he  had  been  the  means 


38       TJie  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

of  restoring  many  hundreds  of  unfortunates  to  liberty. 
He  now  obtained  in  1732  a  charter  from  George  II.,  erect 
ing  the  country  between  the  Savannah  and  the  Alata- 
mnha,  and  from  their  head- springs  as  far  as  the  Pacific, 
into  the  province  of  Georgia.  The  vine  and  the  silkworm 
were  to  be  its  staples.  Ardent  spirits  were  not  to  be  im 
ported  ;  and  above  all  there  were  to  be  no  slaves.  Ogle- 
thorpe  himself  took  out  the  first  party  of  120  emigrants, 
and  chose  the  site  of  Savannah  for  his  capital.  The  In 
dians  from  all  sides — Creeks,  Cherokees,  Choctaws— 
proffered  their  friendship.  The  Moravians  of  Salzburg, 
persecuted  in  their  own  country,  sought  a  home  in  Georgia, 
and  were  followed  by  many  other  emigrants,  amongst 
whom  the  most  noteworthy  were  a  party  of  Highlanders. 

A  few  years  later,  when  war  was  declared  by  England 
on  Spain  in  1 739,  Oglethorpe  invaded  Florida,  but  failed 
Hostilities  to  take  St.  Augustine.  A  large  Spanish  fleet 
with  Spain.  in  turn  aUacked  Georgia,  but  was  beaten  off; 
and  thanks,  in  great  measure,  to  the  support  of  the 
Indians,  the  result  of  the  war  (1739-42)  was  to  leave  the 
St.  John's  river  as  the  practical  British  boundary,  although 
the  exact  frontier  between  the  British  and  Spanish  colo 
nies  remained  unsettled  by  diplomacy. 

Oglethorpe  (who  had  made  two  intermediate  voyages 
to  and  from  Europe)  finally  left  his  colony  in  1743.  His 
Failure  of  institutions  did  not  last.  The  liquor-traffic 
Ogiethorpe's  was  allowed  to  grow  up  ;  slaves  were  hired, 
first  for  a  short  period  from  Carolina,  then  for 
life  or  for  a  hundred  years,  then  imported  direct  from 
Africa.  The  famous  Whitefield,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Methodist  movement,  who  as  well  as  the  two  Wesleys 
visited  America  at  this  period,  urged  the  expediency  of 
allowing  slavery.  The  Moravians  remained  longer  op 
posed  to  it,  but  at  last  gave  in  (1751.)  So  failed  the 
first  practical  attempt  to  rescue  the  American  soil  for 
freedom. 


1609-25.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  39 

6  &  7.    New  York  and  New  Jersey.— Georgia,  com 
pletes  the  sub-group  of  colonies  whose  history  has  its  root 
in  that  of  Virginia.     The  next  sub-group  to  the  New  York 
northward  is   that  of  the  former   Dutch   and  the  centre  of 
Swedish  colonies,  comprising  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Delaware,  and  Pennsylvania.     Here  New  York  is 
the  centre,  until  Pennsylvania  rises   to   substantive  im 
portance. 

The  first  name  in  the  story  of  Dutch  America  is  an 
English  one.  Henry  Hudson,  sailing  in  the  service  of 
the  Dutch  East  India  Company,  discovered  Hudson  at 
Delaware  Bay,  and  the  river  now  known  by  1^^."^ 
his  name  (1609).  At  an  interview  with  the  New  Neth- 
Indians  on  the  southern  point  of  the  island  Ne^lm- 
now  occupied  by  the  city  of  New  York,  he  sterdam- 
offered  the  chiefs  rum.  One  only  took  it  in  the  first  in 
stance;  but  on  seeing  him  reel  and  fall,  then  recover,  and 
hearing  his  account  of  his  sensations,  the  rest  followed 
his  example.  The  place  was  afterwards  called  by  the 
natives,  Manhattan — ( the  place  of  drunkenness/  Ships 
were  sent  out  to  trade  for  furs  with  the  Indians.  A  few 
huts  were  erected  for  the  summer  shelter  of  the  traders, 
then  a  few  of  these  remained  through  the  winter,  then  a 
rude  fort  was  erected,  then  a  settlement  was  made  at 
Albany,  still  the  legal  capital  of  the  State  of  New 
York  (1615).  But  although  the  Dutch  came  at  first  only 
to  trade  and  not  to  colonise,  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  in  1621  was  constituted  for  both  purposes.  By 
1623  the  coast  from  the  southern  shore  of  Delaware  Bay  tc 
Cape  Cod  became  known  as  New  Netherlands;  and  New 
Amsterdam  began  to  grow  up  where  New  York  is  now. 
The  island  of  Manhattan  was  bought  of  the  Indians  by 
the  first  governor,  Peter  Minuits,  for  24  dollars  (1625). 
To  encourage  settlement,  every  man  who  in  four  years 
Should  plant  a  colony  of  50  souls  was  to  be  '  patroon '  or 


4O       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

lord  of  a  tract  16  miles  in  length.  The  colonists  were 
forbidden  to  make  any  woollen,  linen,  or  cotton  fabrics; 
in  return  the  Company  undertook  to  supply  negroes  if  it 
could  do  so  profitably. 

The  first  relations  with  the  English  settlers,  whether 

New  Englanders  or  Virginians,  were  friendly.     But  some 

Dutch   settlements  in   Connecticut   were  ere 

New  S\ve-       .  •««««.  *  ^ 

den ;  even-  long  overwhelmed  by  the  increase  of  English 
ne^edto'the  immigration,  and  the  New  Netherlands  were 
New  Neth-  themselves  invaded,  whilst  a  colony  of  Swedes 
made  its  appearance  in  Delaware  Bay  (1638). 
This  colony  was  headed  by  Peter  Minuits  himself,  for  on 
being  deposed  he  had  sold  his  services  to  Sweden.  The 
settlement,  prospering  for  a  time,  extended  itself  into  what 
is  now  Pennsylvania,  and  became  known  as  *  New  Sweden.' 
The  Dutch  moreover  became  involved  in  an  all  but  fatal  war 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  aggravated  by  a  treacherous  night 
massacre  of  Algonquins  when  they  were  soliciting  the  pro 
tection  of  the  Dutch  against  their  enemies  the  Mohawks 
(1643).  At  one  time  the  Dutch  had  to  sue  for  grace,  and 
only  obtained  a  truce  through  the  mediation  of  Roger 
Williams,  whom  we  shall  presently  hear  of  as  the  founder 
of  Rhode  Island.  But  under  the  leadership  of  John  Un- 
derhill,  a  New  England  fugitive,  they  recovered  the  upper 
hand,  and  a  solemn  treaty  was  concluded  (1645).  Under  an 
able  and  mild  governor,  Stuyvesant,  the  New  Netherlands 
obtained  at  last  from  the  mother-country  freedom  of  trade, 
and  New  Amsterdam  began  to  prosper  (1648).  A  few 
years  later  Stuyvesant  annexed  New  Sweden  (1655). 
Although  during  his  absence  New  Amsterdam  was  at 
tacked  by  the  Indians,  peace  was  restored  on  his  return. 

This  was  the  most  brilliant  period  of  Dutch  colonisation 
in  North  America ;  but  the  end  was  near  at  hand.  At  the 
Restoration,  Charles  II.  granted  the  Dutch  territory,  from 
the  Connecticut  to  the  Delaware,  to  his  brother  the  Duke 


1638-98.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  4! 

of  York  (1664.)  A  fleet  was  sent  out,  and  the  Dutch 
settlers,  who  had  in  vain  demanded  of  the  mother-country 
greater  political  freedom,  offered  no  resistance.  The  Dutch 
The  colony  and  its  capital  both  took  the  name  territory 
of  New  York,  whilst  the  territory  between  the  b^Engknd, 
Hudson  and  the  Delaware  was  granted  by  the  gjjfjjj* 
Duke  of  York  to  Berkeley,  former  governor  of  York  and 

_,  .  .         ,  r  __          New  Jersey 

Jersey.  This  territory,  under  the  name  of  New 
Jersey,  became  a  proprietary  government  under  Berkeley 
and  Sir  George  Carteret.  New  York  was  indeed  recovered 
for  a  time  (1668-74)  by  Holland  through  bribery,but  passed 
finally  to  the  English  by  treaty  in  1674.  The  first  Eng 
lish  governors,  however,  allowed  the  colonists  no  more 
liberty  than  their  Dutch  predecessors  had  done,  and  it 
was  only  in  1683  that,  by  William  Penn's  advice  to  the 
Duke  of  York,  the  authority  of  the  provincial  assembly 
was  recognised,  after  the  recall  of  an  unpopular  governor, 
Sir  Edmund  Andros.  But  on  his  accession  to  the  throne 
James  II.  made  Andros  governor  of  New  England,  to 
which  New  York  was  united  until  the  Revolution  of  1688, 
when  all  the  colonies  subject  to  Andros  revolted,  New 
York  among  the  rest,  and  he  himself  was  sent  to  England 
for  trial.  In  New  York  a  committee  of  safety  appointed 
Jacob  Leisler  governor,  but  after  two  years  he  was  tried 
for  treason  and  executed  under  the  authority  of  a  new 
governor  appointed  from  England,  and  until  the  accession 
to  the  governorship  of  Lord  Bellamont  in  1698,  New 
York  was  harassed  by  bad  governors. 

The  history  of  New  York,  it  will  be  seen,  has  little  to 
impress  the  mind.     It  was  from  the  first  above  all  things 
a  commercial  settlement,  in  which  freedom  was  History  of 
of  late  growth.     Of  New  Jersey  still  less  is  to  ^/^ 
be  said,  although,  when  separated  from  New  ted  with  that 

.,     ,  .  '     ,.  ,  .       ,  ofPennsyl- 

York    at    the    English    conquest,  it    became  Vania.    ' 
rapidly  peopled,  thanks  to  a  liberal  constitution  which  gave 


42        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

freedom  of  worship  and  the  exclusive  right  of  self-taxa 
tion  to  the  colonists.  Its  history,  however,  soon  became 
mixed  up  with  that  of  the  next  great  colony  of  the  sub 
group. 

8  &  9.  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware. — Though  lying 
Pennsyi-  south  of  New  York,  Pennsylvania  belongs 
hStfounded  niorally  rather  to  the  more  northern  than  to 
8f  iousre  tlie  soutnern  colonies,  being  in  fact  the  latest 
colonies.  born  of  what  may  be  termed  the  religious 
colonies. 

There  were  Quakers  in  Maryland  as  early  as  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  they  were  at  first 
The  Quakers  left  unmolested.  But  by  the  end  of  1657  those 
I?  Ame£c.? ;  persecutions  of  the  '  Friends '  commenced  which 

Penn ;  Phila-    .      .  T         ^       .        .  .     .  .  .        . 

deiphia ;  in  New  England  were  earned  as  far  as  death. 
Delaware.  Quakerism,  however,  took  root  in  America  ;  and 
before  long  the  proprietary  rights  of  Lord  Berkeley  and 
Sir  George  Carteret  in  both  West  and  East  New  Jersey 
were  bought  by  Quakers,  William  Penn,  son  of  Admiral 
Penn,  among  the  number.  In  1682  Penn  obtained  from 
Charles  II.,  in  exchange  for  a  claim  of  i6,ooo/.  against  the 
State,  the  grant  of  a  large  tract  of  country  west  of  the 
Delaware,  partly  settled  already  by  Swedes  and  Dutch 
men.  Emigrants  were  sent  out,  Penn  himself  soon  fol 
lowed,  and  in  1682  founded  the  city  of  Brotherly  Love, 
(Philadelphia).  He  soon  afterwards  concluded  a  cele 
brated  treaty  with  the  Indians,  which,  strange  to  say, 
was  never  broken,  so  that  the  history  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vanian  colony  knows  of  no  Indian  wars.  The  growth  of 
Philadelphia  was  extremely  rapid  ;  it  is  said  to  have  in 
creased  more  in  three  years  than  New  York  in  half  a 
century.  There  were,  however,  boundary  disputes  with 
Maryland,  which  were  settled  by  a  grant  to  Penn  of  half 
the  territory  between  Chesapeake  Bay  and  the  Delaware. 
This  territory,  known  at  first  as  the  '  three  lower  counties ' 


1602-1718.         The  TJiirteen  Colonies  43 

of  Pennsylvania,  was  eventually  separated  from  Pennsyl 
vania,  and  became  the  colony  of  Delaware. 

The  constitution  of  Pennsylvania  was  liberal,  all  sects 
being  tolerated,  and  the  franchise  being  open  The  Penn. 
to  every  freeman  who  believed  in   God  and  sylvania con- 
abstained  from  work  on  the  Lord's  day.     But  Penn's  pro- 
after  Penn's   departure   for  Europe,  in   1684,  gg^. 
discontents  arose ;  his  rents  were  in  part  ap-  cated  in 
propriated  for  the  public  service  ;  and  at  the 
Revolution  of  1688  his  proprietary  rights  were  confis 
cated.     He  died  involved  in  debt  in  1718. 

10,  u,  12,  13.  New  England:  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  Rhode  Island.  We  come 
now  to  the  colonies  of  the  New  England  £ariyat. 
sub  group,  which  from  the  first  have  formed,  tempts  at 
and  still  do  form,  the  very  backbone  of  the 
American  nation.  Their  history  goes  back  to  the  early 
years  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Fruitless  attempts  at 
settlement  were  made  on  the  northern  coast  in  1607-8, 
and  again  in  1615  ;  from  the  second,  under  Smith  of 
Virginian  fame,  the  name  of  New  England  which  he  gave 
to  the  country  remained.  A  Company  established  by 
King  James,  and  known  as  the  Council  of  Plymouth 
(1620),  received  enormous  powers,  and  the  ownership  of  a 
belt  of  territory  stretching  from  ocean  to  ocean,  between 
the  4oth  and  48th  degrees  of  north  latitude.  But  the  coloni 
sation  of  New  England  was  not  to  issue  from  its  monopoly. 

A  congregation  of  Separatists  in  the  North  of  England, 
formed  towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  (1602), 
had,  to  escape  religious  persecution,  and  not  The 
without  much  difficulty,  taken  refuge  in  Hoi-  'Piigriin 
land  (1608).      But  the  climate,  the  manners, 
the  language  of  the  country  repelled  them.     Persecuted 
though  they  had  been  by  their  countrymen,  they  were 
Englishmen  to  the  backbone.     They  durst  not  return  to 


44       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D 

English  soil.  But  the  spirit  of  enterprise  was  abroad; 
they  thought  they  might  still  live  for  England,  if  not  in 
England.  They  applied  to  the  London  Company,  the 
then  owners  of  Virginia,  for  permission  to  emigrate 
thither.  '  We  are  knit  together  as  a  body/  they  wrote, 
*  in  a  most  sacred  covenant  of  the  Lord,  of  the  violation 
whereof  we  make  great  conscience,  and  by  virtue  whereoi 
we  hold  ourselves  strictly  tied  to  all  care  of  each  other's 
good,  and  of  the  whole.  It  is  not  with  us  as  with  men 
whom  small  things  can  discourage/  A  patent  was  granted 
to  them  by  the  Company,  though,  as  events  turned  out,  it 
never  became  available  (1619).  Capital  for  the  enterprise 
was  obtained  on  onerous  terms  from  London  merchants. 
Of  two  ships  which  set  sail  in  the  first  instance  from 
Southampton,  the  Mayflower  and  the  Speedwell,  the  latter 
refused  to  proceed,  and  when  the  Mayflower  finally  left 
Plymouth  on  September  6,  1620,  the  little  party  were  re 
duced  to  102  souls.  Their  destination  was  the  Hudson 
river;  but  after  65  days'  sail  they  saw  land  far  to  the  north 
ward,  and  two  days  later  came  to  anchor  within  the 
harbour  of  Cape  Cod.  Before  landing,  they  entered 
amongst  themselves  into  the  following  compact,  which 
was  signed  by  all  the  forty-one  men,  gentle  and  simple, 
who,  with  their  families,  made  up  the  102: — 

'  In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  We  whose  names  are 
undermentioned,  the  loyal  subjects  of  our  dread  sovereign 
Their  com-  King  James,  by  the  grace  of  God,  &c.,  having 
pact  before  undertaken,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  advance 
ment  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  honour  of  our 
king  and  country,  a  voyage  to  plant  the  first  colony  in 
the  northern  parts  of  Virginia,  do  by  these  presents 
solemnly  and  mutually,  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  one 
of  another,  covenant  and  combine  ourselves  into  a  civil 
body  politic,  for  our  better  ordering  and  preservation, 
and  furtherance  of  the  ends  aforesaid  ;  and  by  virtue 


1619-23.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  45 

hereof  to  enact,  constitute,  and  frame  such  just  and  equal 
laws,  ordinances,  acts,  constitutions,  and  offices,  from  time 
to  time,  as  shall  be  thought  most  meet  and  convenient 
for  the  general  good  of  the  colony,  unto  which  we 
promise  all  due  submission  and  obedience.  In  witness 
whereof  we  have  hereunder  subscribed  our  names,  at  Cape 
Cod,  the  nth  of  November,  in  the  year  of  the  reign  of 
our  Sovereign  Lord  King  James,  of  England,  France,  and 
Ireland  the  i8th,  and  of  Scotland  the  fiftie-fourth,  Anno 
Dom.  1620.' 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  all  that  is  highest  in 
the  polity  of  the  United  States  to  the  present  day  has  its 
root  in  this  compact,  by  which  freemen  bind  themselves 
before  God  to  laws  which  they  have  freely  adopted.  There 
can  be  no  greater  contrast  than  between  New  England, 
cradled  thus  in  law,  and  the  Carolinas,  cradled  in  defiance 
of  law.  The  whole  future  history  of  the  States  in  question 
is  in  fact  prefigured  at  their  birth. 

The  season  was  far  advanced,  for  those  northern  lati 
tudes,  when  the  Pilgrims  arrived.  During  the  month  of 
hardships  which  was  spent  in  exploration  of  Early  diffi- 
the  coast,  the  water  sometimes  freezing  on  c"11165- 
their  clothes  and  making  them  '  like  coats  of  iron/  many 
of  them  took,  in  the  language  of  one  of  them,  '  the  original 
of  their  death.'  At  last  they  fixed  upon  Plymouth  Bay 
for  a  settlement,  and  on  Monday,  December  n  (O.S.)  or 
22nd  (N.S.)  1620,  now  '  Forefathers'  Day'  in  New  Eng 
land,  they  landed  on  that  which  is  now  *  Forefathers' 
Rock.'  During  the  winter  many  of  their  number  died, 
the  women  first.  By  the  end  of  March  1621,  they  were 
reduced  to  about  sixty.  An  arrival  of  thirty-five  new 
emigrants  in  the  autumn,  without  provisions  of  their  own, 
reduced  the  whole  colony  for  six  months  to  half  allowances, 
indeed  their  condition  was  frequently  one  of  starvation 
until  the  harvest  of  1623,  after  which  '  there  was  no  genera) 


46       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

want  of  food.'  Their  shipments  for  England  were  cap 
tured,  and  their  English  partners  would  only  supply  them 
with  goods  at  extortionate  profits.  They  failed  in  all 
their  attempts  to  obtain  a  royal  charter.  At  the  end  of 
ten  years  the  colony  contained  no  more  than  300  souls. 
But  with  stubborn  heroism  they  held  on. 

Space  forbids  us  to  linger  over  the  details  of  the  story, 
the  noblest  probably  in  the  annals  of  colonisation.  One 
Relations  °^  *ts  features,  however,  must  not  be  over 
lndtathc-  lo°ked.  The  first  relations  of  the  Pilgrims 
Massasoit ;  with  the  Indians  had  been  hostile.  A  shower 
Canonicus.  of  am)ws  had  been  discharged  on  one  oi 
the  exploring  parties  at  a  place  afterwards  known  as 
*  First  Encounter.'  But  on  March  15,  1621,  a  solitary 
Indian,  it  is  said,  came  out  from  the  forest,  and  advanced 
towards  a  party  of  them,  saying  the  word  '  welcome.'  He 
had  learnt  some  English  from  the  fishermen  who  fre 
quented  the  coast,  and  although  his  tale  was  one  of  the 
usual  violence  on  the  part  of  a  white  man  named  Hunt, 
who,  having  enticed  Indians  on  board  his  ships,  had 
carried  them  off  and  sold  them  as  slaves,  he  showed  him 
self  friendly,  and  stayed  the  night.  He  left  next  morning 
with  a  few  presents,  and  returned  some  days  afterwards 
with  five  other  Indians,  including  one  of  the  men  kidnapped 
by  Hunt,  who  became  interpreter  to  the  English.  On  March 
22  they  had  an  interview  with  the  great  Indian  sachem  of 
the  country,  Massasoit,  and  a  treaty  of  alliance  offensive 
and  defensive  was  concluded— <  the  oldest  act  of  diplomacy 
recorded  in  New  England.'  Massasoit's  object  seems 
to  have  been  to  obtain  allies  against  his  enemies  the 
Narragansetts,  and  their  chief  Canonicus,  head  of  5,000 
warriors.  Probably  as  a  result  of  the  alliance,  a  mes 
senger  from  Canonicus  appeared  in  the  autumn  of  1622, 
and  left  with  the  English  a  token  of  war  in  the  shape  of  a 
bundle  of  arrows  tied  in  a  rattlesnake's  skin.  Governor 


i622.  T/te  Thirteen  Colonies.  47 

Bradford,  the  elected  chief  of  the  colonists,  sent  back  the 
skin  filled  with  powder  and  bullets,  and  the  Indians 
refrained  from  war.  But  the  Pilgrims  were  in  the  fol 
lowing  year  involved  in  hostilities  through  the  miscon 
duct  of  another  colony  of  mere  adventurers,  known  as 
Weston's  colony,  who  wasted  their  stores,  hired  them 
selves  to  the  Indians  to  obtain  food,  and  then  robbed 
them.  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  was  the  period 
when  the  Virginian  colonists  were  involved  in  a  fierce  war 
with  the  Indians,  consequent  upon  the  Indian  massacre 
(1622).  The  facts  were  known  to  both  races,  and  a  con 
spiracy  similar  to  the  Virginian  one  was  formed  for  the  ex 
termination  of  the  New  England  pale-faces  as  well.  Mas- 
sasoit  revealed  the  design,  and  a  colonist  named  Standish, 
with  four  others, '  having  got  the  chiefs  of  the  conspiracy 
into  a  wigwam,  gave  the  signal,  sprang  suddenly  upon 
them,  secured  the  door,  and  buried  his  knife  in  the  heart ' 
of  one  of  the  fiercest  of  the  chiefs.  The  other  Indians 
were  massacred,  except  one  who  was  hanged.  The 
Indians  took  to  flight,  and  eventually  sued  for  peace  ;  but 
Weston's  colonists  alt  perished  or  disappeared. 

Friendly  intercourse  with  the  Indians  seems  afterwards 
to  have  been  renewed,  yet  to  have  itself  aided  in  causing 
the  degeneration  of  their  race.  The  English,  The  Indians 
being  far  superior  to  the  Indians  in  agriculture,  ^generate, 
soon  produced  more  corn  than  enough  for  their  own  con 
sumption,  which  they  sold  to  the  Indians.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  only  articles  in  which  a  profitable  trade  could 
be  carried  on  by  the  colonists  with  England  were  beaver 
and  other  skins,  which  the  Indians  procured  for  them. 
Hence  it  came  to  pass  that  the  Indians  *  abandoned  cul 
ture,'  and  betook  themselves  entirely  to  the  chase,  trusting 
to  the  colonists  for  their  supply  of  corn.  Their  doom  was 
as  thoroughly  sealed  by  this  step  backwards  from  the  posi 
tion  of  a  semi-agricultural  community  into  that  of  mere 


48        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

hunters,  as  it  would  have  been  by  immediate  extermina 
tion. 

Various  other  settlements  followed  those  of  the  Pil 
grims.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  John  Mason  (1622) 
obtained  from  the  Council  of  Plymouth  an  extensive  grant 
of  land,  which  resulted  in  the  settlement  of  what  is  now 
the  State  of  New  Hampshire.  John  Endicott,  under 
Settlement  another  grant  from  the  same  Company,  made  a 
Ha^shire,  settlement  in  Massachusetts  Bay  (1628),  at  first 
Massachu-'  at  Salem,  a  town  which  was  soon  afterwards 

setts  Bay,  ..          ,    .       .  .       _ 

Rhode          eclipsed  in  importance  by  Boston.     A  young 


:wu-   Preacher,  Roger  Williams,  who  had  settled  in 
liams.  the  former  town,  was  sentenced  to  exile  by  the 

Puritans  for  teaching  absolute  freedom  of  conscience.  He 
took  to  flight  ;  wandered  about  for  fourteen  weeks,  '  not 
knowing  what  bread  or  bed  did  mean.'  But  the  Indians, 
to  whom  he  had  always  been  friendly,  received  him. 
From  the  Narragansett  chiefs,  Canonicus  and  Mianto- 
nomo,  he  received  an  extensive  grant  of  land,  which  grew 
eventually  into  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island.  It  was  to  be 
a  pure  democracy,  without  any  state-worship.  All  manner 
of  fugitives  resorted  to  him,  and  the  colony  increased 
and  prospered,  though  Cotton  Mather,  a  celebrated  New 
England  divine,  spoke  of  Rhode  Island  as  a  'colluvies  '  of 
1  everything  but  Roman  Catholics  and  true  Christians.' 

The  growth   of  Massachusetts  soon  attracted  great 
numbers  of  emigrants.     Three  thousand  came  in  1635, 

including  two  men  whose  names  were  soon  to 
growth  of  become  celebrated  in  their  mother  country,  the 
JrtSTvSnB  Poacher  Hugh  Peters,  and  Henry  Vane  the 
and  Mrs.  younger,  better  known  as  Sir  Harry  Vane,  the 

subject  of  one  of  Milton's  noble  sonnets.  Vane 
was  elected  governor,  but  soon  got  into  trouble  with  the 
Puritans  through  favouring  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  another 
new-comer,  a  woman  of  great  eloquence  but  extreme 


Thirteen  Colonies.  49 

religious  views,  who  was  eventually  excommunicated. 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  took  refuge  in  Rhode  Island,  and  having 
after  her  husband's  death  moved  into  the  Dutch  territory, 
was  killed  with  all  her  family,  except  one  daughter,  by  the 
Indians.  Vane  left  for  England  (1637.) 

Vane's  departure  took  place  during  the  first  great 
Indian  war  of  the  northern  colonies,  arising  out  of  the 
settlement  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Connec-  Settlement 
ticut,  by  emigrants  from  Massachusetts.  Two  cut^the60"" 
Englishmen  had  been  killed  by  the  Pequod  Pequod  war. 
Indians — the  first,  it  would  seem,  only  in  revenge  for  the 
kidnapping  and  murder  of  an  Indian  chief.  An  expedition 
was  sent  from  Massachusetts  which  ravaged  the  Indian 
country,  burning  houses  and  corn.  The  Pequods  tried  to 
gain  over  the  Narragansett  Indians,  their  hereditary  foes, 
into  an  alliance  against  thewhites.  Roger  Williams  in  vain 
endeavoured  to  conciliate  the  red  men ;  but  the  Narra- 
gansetts  eventually  declined  to  join  the  league.  Connec 
ticut  declared  war  upon  the  Pequods ;  a  body  of  eighty 
English  set  out  to  attack  them.  The  Narragansetts 
would  not  join  them,  deeming  them  too  few  ;  but  Uncas, 
chief  of  the  Mohegans,  brought  100  warriors  to  their  aid. 
The  combined  body  surprised  at  night  the  chief  village  of 
the  Pequods,  set  it  on  fire,  '  formed  a  circle  round  the  burn 
ing  huts,  and  slew  their  enemies  without  mercy  as  the  fire 
drove  them  into  sight.  Six  hundred  Pequods,  men,  women, 
and  children,  perished  in  an  hour,  while  but  two  of  the  Eng 
lish  were  lost.'  Three  hundred  more  Pequods  who  arrived 
the  next  morning  were  defeated  after  a  fierce  resistance, 
and  the  rest  of  the  tribe  driven  from  place  to  place  and  but 
chered,  alike  by  the  red-faces  and  the  pale;  200  surrendered, 
and  were  either  sold  into  slavery  or  incorporated  among 
the  friendly  tribes,  and  the  Pequod  people  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

The  turn  of  the  Narragansetts  came  next.     Connec- 
M .  H .  & 


50        The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

ticut  accused  the  chief  Miantonomo  to  the  Massachusetts 
Cruel  fate  of  magistrates  of  plotting.  Being  summoned  to 
Miantonomo  Boston,  he  came,  and  dared  his  accusers  to  meet 

the  Narra-       ,  .       -  /-,,.         -.          ,.  /-, 

gansett.  him  face  to  face,  declaring  that  this  was  a  false 
accusation  of  Uncas  the  Mohegan,  and  that  he  would  be 
revenged.  He  watched  for  his  opportunity,  and  in  1643 
invaded  Uncas's  territory.  But  the  Mohegans  had  the 
best  of  the  fight ;  Miantonomo  was  taken  prisoner. 
Uncas  feared  to  kill  him,  and  took  him  to  Hartford  to  ask 
leave  of  the  magistrates.  He  was  kept  prisoner  till  the 
meeting  of  the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  at 
Boston,  two  months  later.  The  commissioners  were  in 
doubt,  and  consulted  five  ministers.  They  quoted  the 
fate  of  Agag,  and  doomed  Miantonomo  to  death.  He 
was  delivered  over  to  Uncas,  whose  brother,  marching 
behind  him,  sunk  a  hatchet  into  his  brain.  Such  was  the 
end  of l  the  most  potent  Indian  prince  the  people  of  New 
England  ever  had  to  do  with,'  of  whom  a  governor  of 
Rhode  Island  declared  that  he,  '  with  his  uncle  Canonicus, 
were  the  best  friends  and  greatest  benefactors  the  colony 
ever  had.' 

Mention  has  been  made  just  now  of  the  *  United 
The 'United  Colonies.'  This  remarkable  union  between 
NewnEng?f  the  *°ur  nortnern  colonies,  which  prefigured 
land.  the  giant  confederacy  of  the  present  day, 

must  now  be  briefly  noticed. 

The  New  England  colonies  had  almost  from  the  first 
been  treated  as  step-children  by  the  English  state. 
The  oppres-  Ships  bound  for  New  England  had  been  de- 
sifve  Conduct  tained  in  the  Thames  by  order  of  the  Council 
leads  to  a  of  State  (1634,  1638.)  The  letters-patent  of 
federation.  the  Company  had  been  ordered  to  be  pro 
duced  in  England.  Stranger  still  and  more  offensive,  a 
special  commission  had  been  issued  for  the  American 
colonies,  empowering  Archbishop  Laud  and  others  to 


1 643-5  z-  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  51 

establish  the  government,  frame  the  laws,  regulate  the 
church,  inflict  punishments,  and  even  to  revoke  charters 
surreptitiously  obtained  or  harmful  to  the  prerogative. 
When  such  measures  were  set  at  nought,  emigration  was 
restrained,  no  person  over  the  rank  of  a  servant  being 
allowed  to  leave  for  the  colony  without  the  permission  of 
the  commissioners.  Only  with  the  growth  of  parlia 
mentary  resistance  to  Charles  I.  did  a  friendlier  spirit 
prevail.  The  neighbourhood  of  the  Dutch  appears  to 
have  suggested  the  idea  of  federation.  But  of  the  four 
settlements  which  formed  '  the  United  Colonies  of  New 
England'  in  1643  only  two,  Massachusetts  and  Connecti 
cut,  still  remain  on  the  list  of  States,  the  other  two,  New 
Haven  and  Plymouth,  having  long  since  lost  any  separate 
existence.  Whilst  the  local  self-government  of  the 
several  colonies  was  jealously  reserved,  the  conduct  of  the 
general  affairs  of  the  confederacy  was  entrusted  to  com 
missioners,  two  from  each  colony.  These  not  only  had 
charge  of  the  common  relations  with  the  Indian  tribes, 
but  concluded  an  actual  treaty  with  the  governor  of  the 
neighbouring  French  colony  of  Acadia. 

During  the  civil  war,  Massachusetts  for  a  time  re 
mained  neutral,  and  claimed  a  large  degree  of  indepen 
dence.  It  refused  twice,  both  before  and  after  the  Massachu- 
execution  of  the  king,  to  accept  a  new  charter  se"s  during 
from  the  parliament,  and  through  its  agent  in  monwealth. 
England  publicly  denied  the  jurisdiction  of  parliament  over 
America;  but  it  acknowledged  the  Commonwealth,  and,  on 
the  passing  of  an  ordinance  against  the  royalist  colonies, 
prohibited  for  a  time,  by  its  own  enactment,  intercourse 
with  Virginia.     With  Cromwell  indeed,  who  seems  to  have 
had  a  strong  sympathy  with  the  New  Englanders,  the 
friendliest  relations  were  established,  and  he  even  endea 
voured  to  procure  settlers  for  Ireland  from  among  them. 
His  Navigation  Act  (165 1)— far  less  oppressive  than  that  of 


52        The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

the  Restoration — was  favourably  received  by  the  colonies, 
and  indeed  its  provisions  against  foreign  commerce  were 
scarcely  enforced.  The  American  colonies  remained  in 
profound  peace  until  the  Restoration,  and  acknowledged 
in  turn  without  demur  Richard  Cromwell  as  Protector 
and  Charles  II.  as  king. 

Some  important  events  in  New  England  history 
belong  to  the  period  of  the  Restoration  (1660-88).  The 
The  Resto-  enlargement  of  Connecticut  by  the  incorpora- 
ration.  tjon  wjth  ft  of  New  Haven  (1665)  may  be 
dismissed  in  a  line.  'King  Philip's  war'  deserves  a 
longer  notice. 

Some  sincere  attempts  had  been  made  in  New 
England  for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians.  John  Eliot, 
known  as  'the  Apostle  of  the  Indians/  devoted  him 
self  to  those  of  Massachusetts,  and  translated  the  Bible 
King  mto  Algonquin.  Villages  of  'praying  Indians' 

Philip's  were  established  ;  an  Indian  became  a  Bache 
lor  of  Arts.  But  other  tribes  were  jealous 
alike  of  the  white  man  and  of  his  faith.  The  new-comers 
were  about  two  to  one  of  the  red  men.  The  Wampanoags, 
the  old  allies  of  the  English,  found  themselves  crowded 
into  two  peninsulas,  and  almost  driven  into  the  sea. 
Old  Massasoit  was  dead.  Of  his  two  sons,  one  had  died 
of  a  fever  *  brought  on  by  mortification  at  being  arrested 
and  imprisoned  by  the  English/  His  other  son,  who  re 
mained  in  sole  possession  of  the  chieftainship,  was  Philip 
— King  Philip,  as  he  is  always  termed  in  American 
history  — the  leader  in  the  last  of  the  Indian  wars  of  New 
England.  It  seems  certain  that  there  was  no  conspiracy; 
the  origin  of  the  war  was  accidental.  An  Indian 
informer  was  killed  by  his  tribe  ;  the  murderers  were 
arrested,  tried,  and  convicted  by  a  jury,  of  which,  it  must 
be  observed,  one  half  were  Indians,  and  hanged.  In 
revenge,  the  young  Indian  braves  attacked  an  English 


1665-84.  The  Thirteen  Colonies.  53 

settlement  and  killed  eight  or  nine  Englishmen  (1675). 
King  Philip  is  said  to  have  wept  when  he  heard  that  a 
white  man's  blood  had  been  shed.  He  had  but  700 
warriors,  and  was  surrounded  by  the  English  ;  he  knew 
that  victory  was  impossible.  Within  a  week  the  Indians 
were  driven  from  their  quarters  ;  within  a  month  Philip 
was  a  fugitive  among  the  Indians  of  the  interior.  But  it 
was  only  now  that  the  real  danger  of  the  war  for  the 
colonists  began.  Philip  moved  from  place  to  place  among 
the  Indian  tribes,  urging  them  to  war  against  the  English. 
From  Maine  to  Connecticut  they  rose,  almost  to  a  tribe; 
the  Mohegans  forming  the  one  signal  exception.  The 
Narragansetts,  who  had  promised  neutrality,  were  dragged 
into  the  fray.  For  a  whole  year  terror  reigned.  Twelve 
or  thirteen  towns  were  destroyed,  and  600  houses  burnt 
The  same  number  of  colonists  perished,  forming,  it  was 
reckoned,  one-twentieth  of  the  whole  number  of  able- 
bodied  men.  But  the  continuousness  of  civilised  warfare 
soon  broke  the  energy  of  the  Indians.  The  Narragansetts 
were  destroyed.  The  New  Hampshire  tribes  gave  in. 
Philip,  chased  from  place  to  place  with  the  remnant  of  his 
braves,  broken-hearted  through  the  capture  of  his  wife  and 
child,  turned  his  face  once  more  to  the  hunting-grounds  of 
his  fathers.  Here  at  last  he  was  surprised  in  a  swamp  by 
a  body  "J  partisans,  and  shot  by  an  Indian  among  them. 
His  body  was  brutally  treated,  his  head  carried  round  the 
colony  in  triumph,  his  son  sold  as  a  slave  in  Bermuda. 
So  perished  the  last  of  the  blood  of  Massasoit,  the  first 
Indian  ally  of  the  Pilgrims  (1676). 

King  Philip's  war  lasted  but  a  year.  The  struggle  of 
Massachusetts  against  the  oppressions  of  the  Restoration 
may  be  said  to  have  lasted  twenty-eight  years.  In  the 
course  of  it  her  charter  was  declared  forfeited  (1684). 
The  Assembly  of  Rhode  Island  was  dissolved ;  the  sur 
render  of  the  Connecticut  charter,  which  was  hidden 


54       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

away  in  a  <  charter  oak'  till  the  Revolution  of  1688,  wa» 
Struggle  of  demanded ;  and  three  years  of  despotic  rule, 
Massachu-  during  which  almost  every  vestige  of  popular 
the  iStora-  government  in  New  England  was  swept  away, 
tion  Govern-  were  endured  under  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  in 

ment.      1  he 

Revolution  whose  hands  was  concentrated  the  government 
of  all  the  northern  colonies  as  far  south  as 
the  frontier  of  Maryland.  But  on  the  news  of  the  Revo 
lution  of  1688  a  single  wave  of  insurrection  swept  away 
from  every  colony  the  whole  fabric  of  his  despotism,  and 
William  and  Mary  were  proclaimed  everywhere  with  en 
thusiastic  rejoicings. 

Two  years  after  the  Revolution — war  having  broken 
out  between  England  and  France  in  1689 — the  govern 
ment  of  Massachusetts  established  after  the  fall  of  Andros 
Warfare  (1690),  summoned  together  at  New  York  a 
FrSiche  congress  of  delegates  from  all  the  colonies  as 
till  1748.  far  as  Maryland.  The  result  of  their  delibera 
tions  was  nothing  less  than  a  resolution  to  attempt  the 
conquest  of  the  then  French  province  of  Canada,  by  a 
land  attack  on  Montreal,  while  a  fleet  from  Massachusetts 
should  assail  Quebec.  Considering  that  the  French 
population  of  the  North  American  colonies,  by  the  census 
of  1688,  was  only  1 1,249,  or?  sav> a  twentieth  of  that  of  the 
English  colonies,  the  design  might  seem  an  easy  one. 
The  maritime  province  of  Acadia  (now  Nova  Scotia)  was 
indeed  soon  annexed.  But  the  French,  as  has  been 
mentioned,  were  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Indian 
tribes,  except  the  Iroquois  ;  and  a  war  with  France  was 
nearly  the  same  thing  as  a  general  Indian  war.  Al 
though  the  Iroquois  took  Montreal,  the  colonists  were 
everywhere  repelled,  and  their  frontiers  desolated  by  the 
inroads  of  the  Indians,  whether  led  or  not  by  the  French. 
The  English  were  driven  from  Hudson's  Bay  by  the 
Canadian  d'lberville  (p.  19),  and  Acadia  was  recovered. 


1 689-1 748.          The  Thirteen  Colonies.  55 

The  result  of  the  war  was  favourable  to  France.  The 
Peace  of  Ryswick  (1697)  caused  little  more  than  a  sus 
pension  of  hostilities,  and  the  war  that  broke  out  again 
in  1701  was  marked  by  the  conquest  of  Acadia,  and 
by  an  attempt  to  conquer  Canada,  but  was  otherwise 
nearly  as  disastrous  to  the  English  colonists  of  the 
north  as  the  former  one.  It  was,  however,  terminated 
by  a  very  favourable  peace,  that  of  Utrecht  (1713),  the 
terms  of  which  have  been  already  mentioned.  From 
this  period  till  the  middle  of  the  century  there  was  only 
border  warfare  with  the  Indians,  during  which  the  French 
missions  in  Massachusetts,  among  their  allies,  the  Abe- 
nakis  of  Maine,  whose  territory  had  been  comprised  in 
the  French  cessions  at  the  peace,  were  ruthlessly  de 
stroyed  ;  cessions  of  territory  being  obtained,  by  fair  or 
foul  means,  from  the  Indians.  These  gave  local  occa 
sion  to  a  war  known  in  colonial  history  as  '  King  George's 
War,'  corresponding  to  the  war  termed  that  of  the  Austrian 
succession  in  Europe,  in  which  a  force  consisting  of  New 
Englanders  only  took  Louisburg,  the  stronghold  of  the 
then  French  colony  of  Cape  Breton,  and  the  strongest 
fortress  in  North  America.  It  was,  however,  restored 
to  France  (to  the  great  disgust  of  the  colonists)  at  the 
peace  of  1748. 

We  have  now  come  to  the  period  when  there  begins 
to  be,  for  the  English  settlements  of  North  America,  a 
general  colonial  history.  But  before  entering  upon  it,  as 
must  be  done  in  order  to  make  our  acquaintance  with 
some  of  the  future  leaders,  military  or  civil,  in  the  War  of 
Independence,  a  few  words  must  be  said  of  the  third 
element  in  the  colonial  population. 

III.  THE  BLACK  MAN. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  the  first  negro  slaves 
were  brought  by  Dutchmen  for  sale  into  Virginia  in  1620. 


56        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

The  New  England  public  generally  was  at  first  opposed 
Growth  of  to  tne  P^ctice,  and  there  is  even  a  record  of 
slavery.  a  slave,  who  had  been  sold  by  a  member  of  the 
Boston  church,  being  ordered  to  be  sent  back  to  Africa 
(1645).  Yet  negro  slaves  were  to  be  found  in  New 
England  as  early  as  1638.  Massachusetts  and  Connecti 
cut  recognised  the  lawfulness  of  slavery  ;  Massachusetts, 
however,  only  when  voluntary,  or  in  the  case  of  captives 
taken  in  war.  Rhode  Island,  more  generous,  made  ille 
gal  the  perpetual  service  of  *  black  mankind/  requiring 
them  to  be  set  free  after  two  years,  the  period  of  white 
men's  indentures — a  condition  which,  however,  would  only 
tend  to  the  working  slaves  to  death  in  the  allotted  time. 
But  although  there  was  no  importation  of  negroes  on  any 
considerable  scale  into  New  England,  the  ships  by  which 
the  slave  trade  was  mainly  carried  on  were  those  from  Mas 
sachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  which  carried  rum  to  Africa, 
and  brought  back  slaves  to  the  West  Indies  and  the  south 
ern  colonies.  In  Maryland  slavery  had  been  established 
at  once ;  in  South  Carolina,  as  before  observed,  it  came 
into  birth  with  the  colony  itself.  The  failure  of  the  attempt 
to  exclude  it  from  Georgia  has  been  told  already. 

The  guilt  of  the  institution  cannot,  however,  be  fairly 

charged  on  the  colonists.     Queen  Elizabeth  had  been  a 

partner  in   the  second  voyage    of   Sir  John 

Royal  slave     \  _       ,  / ,  °     .  . 

traders;  the  Hawkins,  the  first  English  slave  captain. 
Asiento.  James  I.  chartered  a  slave  trading  company 
(1618),  Charles  I.  a  second  (1631);  Charles  II.  a  third 
(1663),  of  which  the  Duke  of  York  was  president,  and 
again  a  fourth,  in  which  he  himself,  as  well  as  the  Duke, 
was  a  subscriber.  Nor  did  the  expulsion  of  the  Stuarts 
cause  any  change  of  feeling  in  this  respect.  England's 
sharpest  stroke  of  business  at  the  peace  of  Utrecht  (1713) 
was  the  obtaining  for  herself  the  shameful  monopoly  of 
the  '  Asiento/ — *>.  the  slave  trade  with  the  Spanish  West 


1638-1 75°«  Tlie  Black  Man*  57 

Indies— undertaking  'to  bring  into  the  West  Indies  of 
America  belonging  to  his  Catholic  Majesty,  in  the  space 
of  thirty  years,  144,000  negroes/  at  the  rate  of  4,800  a 
year,  at  a  fixed  rate  of  duty,  with  the  right  to  import  any 
further  number  at  a  lower  rate.  As  nearly  the  whole 
shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  still  Spanish,  England 
thus  contributed  to  build  up  slavery  in  most  of  the  future 
Southern  States  of  the  Union.  Whether  for  foreign  or 
for  English  colonies,  it  is  reckoned  that  from  1700  to 
1750,  English  ships  carried  away  from  Africa  probably 
a  million  and  a  half  of  negroes,  of  whom  one-eighth  never 
lived  to  see  the  opposite  shore. 

In  the  same  spirit  England  dealt  with  her  colonies 
When  Virginia  imposed  a  tax  on  the  import  of  negroes, 
the  law  had  to  give  way  before  the  interest  of 

A  .  .  J  _  Support  of 

the  African  Company.     The  same  course  was  slavery  and 
followed  many  years  later  towards  South  Caro-  trade^by'the 
Una,  when  an  act  of  the  provincial  assembly  mother 

,      .  .  ,  .  ,      ,  country. 

laying  a  heavy  duty  on  imported  slaves  was 
vetoed  by  the  crown  (1761).  Indeed  the  title  to  a  political 
tract  published  in  1745,  'The  African  slave  trade  the 
great  pillar  and  support  of  the  British  plantation  trade  in 
America/  appears  fairly  to  express  the  prevalent  feeling 
of  the  mother  country  on  the  subject  before  the  War  of 
Independence.  The  most  remarkable  relaxation  of  the 
Navigation  Laws  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  the 
throwing  open  the  slave  trade  by  the  act  '  for  extending 
and  improving  the  trade  to  Africa' (1750;  23  Geo.  II., 
c.  31),  which  after  reciting  that  'the  trade  to  and  from 
Africa  is  very  advantageous  to  Great  Britain,  and  neces 
sary  for  the  supplying  the  plantations  and  colonies  there 
unto  belonging  with  a  sufficient  number  of  negroes  at 
reasonable  rates/  enacted  that  it  should  be  lawful  'for  alP 
his  Majesty's  subjects  to  trade  and  traffick  to  and  from, 
any  port  or  place  in  Africa,  between  the  port  of  Sallee  in» 


5 8        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A. a 

South  Barbary  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.'  By  1763; 
there  were  about  300,000  negroes  in  the  North  American 
colonies. 

General  Colonial  History,    1748-64. 

When  <  King  George's  War'  ended  by  the  restoration 
•of  Louisburg  to  the  French,  it  seemed  as  if  it  had  been 
Connection  f°ught  out  for  nothing.  Yet  it  was  destined  to 
SeoV "^  ^ave  a  Place  *n  tne  nistor7  °f  the  world,  through 
War  with  the  connexion  with  it  of  a  certain  ex-printer's- 
rankim.  fev^  who  was  to  become  one  of  the  leaders  in 
the  coming  struggle  between  England  and  her  colonies. 
This  was  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Franklin  represents,  under  its  noblest  aspect,  the 
shrewd  side  of  the  American  character,  before  it  has 
Benjamin  developed  into  *  cuteness '  or  <  smartness/  The 
tFh?author  son  of  a  soaP  and  candle  manufacturer  in  Bos- 
of  the  first  ton  (born  1706),  he  had  been  employed  at  ten 

military  or-  -  .  .  ,   ,£.. 

ganisation  in  years  of  age  in  cutting  wicks  and  filling  candle- 
the  colonies.  mouids>  but  was  already  an  insatiable  reader. 
At  twelve  he  was  apprenticed  to  an  elder  brother,  a 
printer,  who  in  1721  established  a  paper  called  the  'New 
England  Courant,'  and  young  Benjamin  at  fifteen  both 
helped  in  printing,  distributed  the  copies,  and  contributed 
matter  of  his  own.  But  the  paper  got  into  trouble 
through  a  too  free  criticism  of  the  ministers  of  religion. 
James  Franklin  was  thrown  into  prison  for  a  month,  and 
forbidden  to  print  the  paper  except  under  previous  super 
vision  ;  Benjamin  escaped  with  an  admonition.  The 
outlook  was  not  promising,  and  moreover  his  brother  was 
of  violent  temper.  At  seventeen  Benjamin  ran  away  to 
New  York  ;  <£bund  there  no  employment,  and  after  various 
wanderings  reached  Philadelphia  with  a  dollar  in  his 
pocket.  Here,  however,  he  obtained  a  situation  in  one  of 
the  two  existing  printing  offices,  and  soon  prospered. 


1748-64.  General  Colonial  History,  59 

He  was  able  to  come  to  Europe,  and  after  eighteen 
months'  residence  in  London  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
and  set  up  a  printing  press  of  his  own.  Besides  being 
ready  to  put  his  hand  to  any  branch  of  the  printing  trade? 
he  could  'make  types  and  woodcuts,  and  engrave  vig 
nettes  in  copper.'  He  became  printer  to  the  Assembly  ; 
established  a  newspaper  ;  the  first  American  circulating 
library  (1730)  ;  a  celebrated  almanac,  called  '  Poor 
Richard's  Almanac'  (1732),  which  he  continued  foi 
twenty-five  years  ;  and  the  American  Philosophical 
Society  (1736).  He  also  became  clerk  to  the  Assembly.  To 
him  again  was  due  the  first  permanent  military  organi 
sation  in  the  colonies,  through  the  establishment,  during 
King  George's  War,  of  a  militia  in  Pennsylvania  (1747), 
comprising  over  120  companies  of  loomen  each.  Frank 
lin  was  elected  to  the  command  of  a  regiment,  but  would 
only  serve  as  a  private.  A  few  years  later  his  discoveries 
in  electricity,  crowned  by  the  feat  of  drawing  lightning 
from  the  clouds  by  means  of  a  key  and  a  silken  kite 
(1751),  rendered  his  name  famous  in  science  throughout 
the  world. 

Like  King  George's  War,  a  desultory  colonial  warfare 
known  as  the  '  French  and  Indian  War,'  which  preceded 
and  at  last  merged  in  the  war  known  in  The 'French 
Europe  as  the  Seven  Years  War,  has  be-  and  Indian 
come  historical,  as  having  first  brought  into  George 
prominence  a  young  surveyor  named  George  Washinston- 
Washington.  The  boundary  between  the  French  and 
English  colonies  to  the  west  of  the  latter  had  never  been 
fixed.  A  company  called  the  Ohio  Company,  of  which 
Augustine  Washington  was  a  member,  had  obtained 
from  the  English  crown  a  grant  of  500,000  acres  on  the 
Ohio.  But  the  valley  of  that  river  had  already  been 
taken  possession  of  by  the  French,  who  broke  up  a 
British  post  on  the  Miami  river,  one  of  the  northern., 


6o       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.B. 

affluents  of  the  Ohio,  carrying  off  its  occupants  to  Canada, 
and  severely  punishing  the  Indian  allies  of  the  English. 
Two  posts  were  even  established  in  north-western 
Pennsylvania.  George  Washington  (born  1732),  son  oi 
Augustine  Washington,  had  attracted  the  notice  of  Lord 
Fairfax,  an  extensive  landowner  in  Virginia,  and  through 
his  influence  had  been  appointed  at  nineteen  adjutant- 
general.  He  was  now  sent  by  Governor  Dinwiddie  of 
Virginia  (1753)  to  the  two  new  French  posts,  to  ask  the 
reason  of  the  French  intrusion  on  British  territory.  The 
French  commanders  made  no  secret  of  their  purpose ; 
they  were  to  take  possession  of  the  whole  of  the  Ohio 
valley,  and  destroy  every  English  post.  Amidst  many 
dangers,  Washington  found  his  way  back,  and  reported 
the  results  of  his  mission.  By  his  recommendation,  the 
Ohio  Company  began  constructing  a  fort  on  the  site  of 
what  is  now  Pittsburg,  at  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany 
and  Monongahela  rivers.  But  it  was  taken  by  the  French 
before  the  spot  could  be  reached  by  a  body  of  soldiers 
to  whose  command  Washington  had  succeeded  on  the 
march  ;  and  the  fort  was  completed  by  the  French  under 
the  name  of  Fort  Duquesne.  A  successful  night  skirmish 
with  the  French  and  a  gallant  defence  in  a  stockade,  for 
which  Washington  had  thrown  up  with  his  own  hands  the 
first  shovelful  of  earth,  only  resulted  in  his  being  allowed 
to  march  away  with  the  honours  of  war,  retaining  stores 
and  baggage.  The  French  occupied  the  whole  country  to 
the  Alleghanies. 

The  state  of  things  was  felt  to  be  serious.  Delegates 
from  all  the  colonies  north  of  the  Potomac  met  at  Albany 
(1754),  the  I roquois  being  invited  to  the  council, 
proposed  A  plan  was  brought  forward  by  Benjamin 
congress.  Franklin,  and  adopted  for  reference  to  the 
•colonies  themselves.  According  to  this  plan  a  congress, 
•composed  of  from  two  to  seven  delegates,  was  to  meet  an- 


1748-64.          General  Colonial  History.  6 1 

nually  at  Philadelphia,  with  power  to  originate  all  laws, 
appoint  civil  officers,  issue  money,  deal  with  the  Indians, 
regulate  trade,  govern  new.  settlements,  raise  soldiers,  and 
levy  taxes,  subject,  however,  to  the  veto  of  a  governor- 
general  appointed  by  the  crown,  each  colony  retaining 
its  own  legislature  and  independence  in  internal  affairs. 
Nothing  came  of  it  at  that  time  ;  the  seed  was  one  which 
needed  yet  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  for  its  growth. 

The  English  Government  became  alarmed,  and  sent 
over  troops  under  General   Braddock.      Four 

.     .  ...    General 

expeditions  at  once  were  planned,  the  principal  Braddock's 
one,  commanded  by  General  Braddock  himself,  defeat- 
with  George  Washington  as  his  aide-de-camp,  against  the 
French  in  the  Ohio  valley.  Braddock  derided  al) 
warnings  of  Indian  surprises,  and  with  his  2,000  men 
advanced  slowly,  striking  terror  at  first  both  into  the 
French  and  the  Indians.  On  July  9,  1755,  moving  along 
the  back  of  the  Monongahela  river,  on  a  path  about 
twelve  feet  wide,  with  wooded  ravines  ten  feet  deep  on 
each  side,  which  eventually  met,  he  was  suddenly  attacked 
at  the  point  of  junction  by  a  much  smaller  force  of  French 
and  Indians,  extending  on  both  sides.  The  war-whoops 
and  the  shots  from  unseen  foes  struck  a  panic  terror  into 
the  English  troops,  and  only  the  Virginia  Rangers,  a 
colonial  corps,  offered  an  effectual  resistance.  Braddock, 
after  seeing  all  his  aides-de-camp  disabled  except  Wash 
ington,  after  having  five  horses  wounded  under  him,  and 
receiving  a  musket  ball  through  the  lungs,  at  last  by 
Washington's  advice  gave  the  signal  for  a  retreat.  The 
retreat  became  a  rout,  and  stores  and  artillery,  and  the 
private  papers  of  the  general,  were  left  behind.  The  loss 
amounted  to  26  officers  killed,  37  wounded,  and  714 
privates,  while  the  enemy  lost  only  3  officers  and  30  men 
killed,  and  as  many  wounded  Washington,  after  dis 
playing  conspicuous  bravery  on  the  battle-field,  did  his 


62        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

best  to  cover  the  retreat;  but  the  panic  spread  to  the 
garrison  of  Will's  Creek,  on  which  the  fugitives  fell  back. 
Will's  Creek  was  evacuated,  and  ioo,ooo/.  of  stores  and 
artillery  destroyed.  Braddock  died  the  fourth  day  after 
his  defeat. 

Of  the  other  three  expeditions,  the  first  resulted  in 

the  rebuilding  and  garrisoning  of  a  fort  at  Oswego,  at  the 

south-east  end  of  Lake  Ontario ;  a  second  (after 

Conquest  of  .  .        ^          .  .    .        .  .^         , 

New  Bruns-  a  victory  over  the  French)  in  the  erection  of 
puls^of  Fort  William  Henry,  at  the  southern  end 
theAca-  of  Lake  George.  The  third,  landing  near 
the  Bay  of  Fundy,  subdued  the  country  now 
known  as  New  Brunswick,  between  Maine  and  Nova 
Scotia.  This  was  followed  by  the  barbarous  measure  of 
the  expulsion  of  the  Acadians,  or  French  of  Nova  Scotia, 
7,000  of  whom  were  shipped  off  to  the  southern  colonies, 
an  event  to  which  Mr.  Longfellow's  well-known  poem  of 
*  Evangeline '  owes  its  subject. 

War  was  only  formally  declared  in  1756,  and  its  first 
operations  were  again  entirely  favourable  to  the  French, 
French  w^°  un<^er  the  distinguished  general,  Mont- 
successes,  calm,  reduced  successively  both  Fort  Oswego 
and  Fort  William  Henry,  the  capture  of  the  latter  being 
followed  by  a  massacre  of  the  garrison  by  the  Indian 
allies  of  the  French.  At  the  close  of  1757,  it  is  stated  that 
the  English  possessions  in  America  were  to  those  of  the 
French  but  as  one  to  twenty. 

On  the  accession  to  power  of  the  elder  Pitt,  the  *  great 

Lord  Chatham '  of  history,  more  efficient  measures  were 

taken  by  the  English,  and  the  tide  of  fortune 

The  French  ,    J.      .,     ,.     .         '     .     f  _ 

defeated ;  turned  decidedly  in  their  favour.  One  expe- 
cOTquered;  dition  occupied  Louisburg,  and  took  possession 
Peace  of  '  of.Cape  Breton  and  Prince  Edward's  Island. 
An  attack  on  the  French  fort  of  Ticonderoga 
on  Lake  George  $9Jed;  but  Washington,  with  his  Virginia 


1748-64.          General  Colonial  History.  63 

Rangers,  forming  part  of  an  army  under  General  Forbes, 
drove  the  French  out  of  Fort  Duquesne  (1758),  and 
changed  the  name  of  the  place  to  Pittsburg,  in  honour  of 
the  great  minister.  On  his  return  from  this  expedition, 
he  was  elected  (at  twenty-seven)  a  member  of  the  Vir 
ginian  House  of  Burgesses.  The  next  year  was  marked 
by  the  driving  of  the  French  from  the  country  between 
Pittsburg  and  Lake  Erie,  from  their  fort  of  Niagara,  from 
Ticonderoga  and  Lake  Champlain,  and  still  more  by 
the  magnificent  achievement  of  the  battle  and  taking  of 
Quebec,  in  which  the  commanders  on  both  sides,  Wolfe 
and  Montcalm,  perished.  This  event  was  followed  in 
1760  by  the  surrender  of  Montreal,  with  the  whole  of 
Canada,  and  the  two  important  posts  of  Mackinaw,  at 
the  junction  between  Lakes  Michigan  and  Huron,  and 
Detroit,  which  commands  the  water  communication  be 
tween  Lakes  Huron  and  Erie.  When,  three  years  later, 
peace  was  concluded  (February  10,  1763),  Spain  gave 
up  Florida  to  England ;  and  France  formally  ceded,  in 
North  America  alone,  Louisiana  to  the  Mississippi 
(without  New  Orleans),  all  Canada,  Acadia,  Cape  Breton 
and  its  islands,  and  the  fisheries  with  a  few  reservations. 
Never  it  was  said,  was  so  glorious  a  war,  so  honourable 
a  peace. 

Although  extending  beyond  the  period  of  which  we 
have  been  speaking,  there  is  a  sequel  which  belongs  to 
it,  in  the  shape  of  a  war  with  the  Indians,  Pontiac»s 
named  after  their  leader,  an  Ottawa  chief,  w*r- 
'  Pontiac's  war/  Misled  by  his  eloquence,  a  number  of 
Indian  tribes  suddenly  rose  on  the  English,  surprised  nine 
garrisons  in  a  day,  occupied  the  fort  of  Mackinaw,  and 
besieged  Pittsburg  and  Detroit.  But  the  garrison  of  the 
latter  held  out  for  months,  and,  as  usual,  the  Indians  could 
not  keep  together.  Pontiac  held  on  till  all  but  his  Ottawas 
deserted  him.  All  thev  hostile  tribes,  two  only  excepted, 


64        The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D, 

successively  treated  with  the  English  (1764).  Pontiac  took 
refuge  among  the  Illinois,  and  tried  to  form  another  con 
federacy  against  the  English,  but  was  stabbed  at  a  council 
by  an  Indian  who  was  friendly  to  them.  This  was  Vir 
ginia's  last  Indian  war,  as  King  Philip's  war  had  been 
the  last  Indian  war  of  New  England. 

At  the  close  of  this  period  the  most  populous  of  the 
American  colonies  were  Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania, 
Thecolo-  Boston  and  Philadelphia  containing  nearly 
tries  in  1763.  j  g)000  inhabitants  each,  while  New  York  had  as 
yet  only  12,000.  The  population  was  chiefly  agricultural, 
though  manufactures  were  already  largely  carried  on  in 
the  North.  There  was  a  brisk  coast  trade,  and  the  New 
Englanders  had  engaged  in  the  whale  fishery.  Rice, 
indigo,  and  to  some  extent  cotton,  were  produced  in  the 
South  ;  tar  and  turpentine  in  North  Carolina ;  tobacco, 
as  well  as  the  almost  universal  maize,  in  Virginia  and 
Maryland. 


CHAPTER  III. 

CAUSES  OF  DISCONTENT. — STRUGGLE  BEFORE  THE  WAR 
(1763-75). 

MONTCALM,  it  is  said,  predicted  that  if  France  lost 
Montcaim's  America,  in  ten  years  more  America  would  be 
prediction.  jn  revoit  against  England.  He  was  not  far  out 
in  his  prediction. 

It  may  have  already  appeared  from  the  preceding 
sketch  that  the  history  of  the  English  colonies  in  North 
Mingled  America  presents  a  curious  blending  of  loyalty 
loyalty  and  an(j  disaffection.  The  colonists  were  always 

disaffection  / 

of  colonies,  ready  to  fly  to  arms  for  the  honour  of  the 
British  name— and  the  enlargement  of  their  own  borders.  . 


1 660-79.  Causes  of  Discontent.  6  5 

against  their  French  and  Spanish  neighbours  ;  but  within 
their  own  limits  there  was  a  constant  straining,  rising  not 
unfrequently  to  rebellion,  against  the  authority  which  the 
crown,  its  representatives  or  grantees,  sought  to  exercise 
over  them. 

One  abiding  source  of  irritation,  since  the  latter  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  lay  in  the  English  Navigation 
Laws.  The  Navigation  Act  of  the  Common-  The  Navi- 
wealth  had  had  for  its  object  the  securing  to  eationlaws- 
English  vessels  the  carrying  trade  of  the  colonies  with 
England.^  The  Navigation  Acts  of  Charles  II.  confined  to 
English  vessels,  navigated  by  Englishmen,  all  importation 
of  merchandise  into  and  exportation  from  the  colonies,  and 
even  forbad  any  importation  of  European  commodities  into 
colonies  except  from  England,  whilst  aliens  were  also  for 
bidden  to  act  as  merchants  or  factors  in  the  colonies  (1660, 
1662).  Still  more  monstrous  was  a  subsequent  act,  which 
forbad  all  the  principal  colonial  staples  to  be  exported 
otherwise  than  to  England,  so  that  a  duty  equivalent  to . 
the  English  customs  duty  was  laid  on  the  importation  of 
such  articles  from  one  colony  into  another. 

All  the  colonies  soon  began  to  suffer  under  this  legis 
lation.     We  have  seen  by  what  wild  expedients  Virginia 
sought  to  defend  herself  against  its  ill  effects,  struggle 
The  struggle  against  it  in  New  England  de-  555£iton 
serves  closer  notice,  as  having  been  carried  on  Laws,  m 

-  ,      .  ,     .  **       \       r  •         New  Eng- 

by  means  of  legislation.     On  the  first  passing  land  espe- 
of  the  Navigation  %Act  the  General  Court  of  ciaUy- 
Massachusetts  published  a  declaration  of  rights,  which 
included   that  of  rejecting  'any  parliamentary  or  royal 
imposition  prejudicial  to  the  country,  and  contrary  to  any 
just  act  of  colonial  legislation.'     It  was  only  after  this 
that  Charles    II.  was  proclaimed.     Ten  years  after  the 
passing  of  the  Navigation  Act  it  was   not  enforced  in 
Massachusetts.     It  was  only  in    1679  that  the  General 
M.  ff.  p 


66        The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

Court,  whilst  declaring  that '  the  Acts  of  Navigation  were 
'an  invasion  of  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  subjects  of 
his  Majesty  in  the  colony,  they  not  being  represented  in 
parliament,'  and  that  *  the  laws  of  England  do  not  reach 
America/  yet  gave  them  effect  by  an  act  of  its  own.  Then 
came  the  confiscation  of  the  charters  of  the  northern 
colonies,  and  the  appointment  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros  as 
governor  of  all  New  England. 

The  history  of  the  struggle  of  the  American,  or,  we 
might  say  the  New  England,  colonies  against  the  govern- 
Thecomin  ment  °f  tne  Restoration  has  been  scarcely 
contest  pre-  studied  enough.  It  prefigures  most  remark 
ably  that  larger  struggle  which  a  century  later 
was  to  rend  thirteen  colonies  away  from  the  mother 
country.  The  principle  at  issue  was  exactly  the  same — 
the  right  of  the  mother  country  to  interfere  in  the  internal 
matters  of  the  colonies,  and  with  the  carrying  on  of  their 
trade.  It  is  supposed  that  at  the  period  of  the  Revolution 
•of  1688  the  colonies  of  North  America  contained  together 
not  much  more  than  200,000  souls.  Had  there  been 
2,000,000,  the  rule  of  governors  like  Berkeley  and  Andros 
would  probably  never  have  been  tolerated,  whatever  might 
have  been  the  course  of  politics  in  England.  Moreover, 
the  discontents  engendered  by  the  Restoration  were  not 
appeased  by  the  successors  of  James  II.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  enthusiasm  with  which  William  had  been  pro 
claimed,  Massachusetts  had  to  spend  two  years  in 
obtaining  a  new  charter,  and  lost  under  it  the  right  of 
electing  officers,  who  were  henceforth  to  be  appointed  by 
the  governor  or  the  crown.  In  New  York,  as  will  be 
recollected,  Leisler,  the  elected  governor,  after  ruling  for 
nearly  two  years  in  the  king's  name,  was  executed  for 
nigh  treason.  He  was  looked  upon  as  a  martyr,  and 
pieces  of  his  clothes  were  saved  as  relics. 

At  the  Peace  of  Utrecht  (1713)  the  Navigation  Laws 


Longmans,  Green,  &  Co.,  London,  New 


1713-48.  Causes  of  Discontent.  67 

were  so  far  relaxed  that  trade  was  permitted  between  Great 
Britain  and  Spain,  and  their  respective  plan-  other  causes 
tations  and  provinces,  'where  hitherto  trade  ofdiscon- 
and  commerce  had  been  accustomed ' — a  clear 
indication  of  the  habitual  violation  of  the  law  up  to  that 
time.  Sir  Robert  Walpole  indeed  made  it  a  maxim  to 
encourage  the  trade  of  the  American  colonies,  passing 
over  some  of  their  '  irregularities '  in  trading  with  Europe. 
But  the  growth  of  manufactures  in  the  colonies  was  dis 
couraged  on  the  express  ground,  as  stated  in  a  resolution 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  that  it  '  tended  to  lessen  their 
dependence  on  Great  Britain/  The  transport  of  hats, 
for  instance,  from  one  colony  to  another,  was  forbidden, 
because  the  manufacture  of  them  was  '  daily  increasing  in 
the  British  plantations  in  America'  (1732).  An  absolute 
prohibition  of  the  manufacture  of  iron  wares  was  all  but 
carried.  Any  relaxations  of  the  navigation  laws  that  were 
enacted,  were  mainly  in  favour  of  tropical  products,  as 
sugar  and  rice  ;  but  parliament  went  so  far  as  to  impose 
a  customs  duty  on  the  import  of  foreign  wines  and 
sugars  into  any  of  the  American  colonies  (1793). 
If  bounties  were  given  on  the  import  of  naval  stores  from 
the  North  American  colonies,  their  timber  trade  was 
hampered  (as  was  indeed  that  of  Scotland  also)  by  the 
rights  of  preemption  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Navy, 
and  also  by  the  requirement  of  a  license  for  cutting 
down  white  pine.  To  these  causes  of  discontent  were 
added  the  impressment  laws,  the  enforcement  of  which 
during  the  war  of  1744-8  was  openly  resisted.  Sir  Charles 
Knowles,  the  British  naval  commander,  finding  his  sea 
men  desert  while  lying  off  the  Massachusetts  coast,  sent 
his  boats  to  Boston  to  impress  men  in  their  stead.  The 
people  seized  on  the  officers  of  the  fleet  who  were  in  the 
town,  and  detained  them  for  three  days.  The  House 
of  Representatives  had  to  mediate  before  they  were  re- 


68        The  War  of  American  Independence. 


A.D. 


leased,  and  most  if  not  all  of  the  impressed  men  were 
dismissed. 

An  ugly  temper  was  rising  on  both  sides.     There  was 

a  disposition  in  England  to  look  upon  the  colonists  as 

headstrong  and  rebellious — as  a  transatlantic 

Mutual  com-  .  111  t    /•  «         • 

plaints  be-  Jeshurun,  that  had  waxed  fat  under  the  pro- 
5otherth  tection  of  the  mother  country,  and  kicked  now 
countrv  and  at  its  protector.  The  colonists  complained  that 
the  mother  country  crippled  their  trade,  taxed 
them  against  their  will,  sought  to  thrust  on  them  the  worst 
features  of  its  legislation.  Every  complaint  seemed  only  to 
irritate  English  statesmen  the  more.  One  grievance  on 
their  part  against  the  colonists  was  that  the  colonial 
Houses  of  Assembly  claimed  by  their  votes  of  supply  to 
make  the  representatives  of  the  crown  their  dependents; 
another,  that  the  customs  establishment  in  America  was, 
owing  to  smuggling  and  sinecures,  only  a  burden  on  the 
British  customs.  Smuggling  in  particular  was  so  extensively 
practised  that  not  one-tenth  of  the  1,500,000  Ibs.  of  tea 
consumed  annually  in  the  colonies  was  estimated  to  come 
from  England,  whence  alone  it  could  be  legally  supplied. 

The  remedy  devised  was  to  levy  a  revenue  from  the  . 
colonies,  and  to  charge  upon  it  a  civil  list  for/ the  salaries 
of  the  governors  and  other    officers    of  the 

The  attempt  .      .     ,:          .      .     ,  ,  .     .  , 

to  raise  a  crown,  including  the  judges,  who  were  to  hold 
[heecolo£es^  office  henceforth  at  its  pleasure,  and  for  the 
George  '  maintenance,  after  the  first  year,  of  twenty 
regiments.  Strange  to  say,  the  statesman  who 
eventually  took  upon  himself  to  attempt  the  administra 
tion  of  such  a  remedy,  George  Grenville,  was  one  who 
'doubted  the  propriety  of  taxing  colonies  without  allowing 
them  representatives ; '  but  he  also  held  that '  colonies  are 
only  settlements  made  in  distant  parts  of  the  world  for  the 
improvement  of  trade/  and  that  'they  would  be  intolerable 
except  on  the  conditions  contained  in  the  Act  of  Navi- 


1 763-4.  Causes  of  Discontent.  69 

gation/  In  other  words,  he  was  incapable  of  knowing  a 
nation  when  he  saw  one,  so  long  as  it  was  an  offshoot  from 
another;  he  could  not  admit  that  slips  and  cuttings  would 
ever  grow  into  trees. 

The  act  of  1733  by  which  a  customs  duty  was  laid 
on  certain  foreign  imports  into  the  American  colonies 
had  been  continued  from  time  to  time.  In  r^  coionjal 
1763,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  'just  and  ne-  Revenue 
cessary '  that  a  revenue  should  be  raised  in  his 
Majesty's  dominions  in  America, '  for  defraying  the  ex 
penses  of  defending,  protecting,  and  securing  the  same/  a 
new  act  was  passed  which,  whilst  reducing  some  of  the 
existing  duties,  levied  new  ones  on  a  number  of  other 
articles,  including  wines,  besides  enacting  many  harassing 
regulations.  The  navigation  laws  were  at  the  same  time 
more  strictly  enforced. 

The  colonists  protested,  but  submitted.  What  they 
claimed  as  yet  was  only  representation  in  the  British 
parliament  James  Otis  of  Boston,  who  had  Protests  of 
been  advocate-general  for  the  crown,  in  a  o?b?s£S£$ 
pamphlet  entitled  '  The  Rights  of  the  British  Adams. 
Colonies  Asserted  and  Proved'  (1764),  wrote  :  l  When  the 
parliament  shall  think  fit  to  allow  the  colonists  a  repre 
sentation  in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  equity  of  taxing 
the  colonies  will  be  as  clear  as  their  power  is  at  present 
of  doing  it  without/  With  Otis,  Samuel  Adams  was  the 
most  prominent  of  the  protesting  colonists.  '  WTe  claim 
British  rights/  he  said  at  a  Boston  town  meeting, '  not  by 
charter  only,  for  what  is  that  but  a  parchment  ?  but  we 
claim  them  because  we  were  born  with  them/ 

The  dislike  to  the  new  customs  duties  was,  however, 
far  enhanced  by  the  announcement  already  made  (March 
1764)  by  Grenville  as  Chancellor  of  the  Ex-  The  Stamp 
chequer,  of  his  intention  to  apply  the  stamp  Act)  I76s- 
duties  to  America.    This  intention  was  carried  into  effect 


7O        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D 

by  the  famous  American  Stamp  Act  in  the  following  year 
(5  Geo.  III.,  c.  12),  in  spite  of  petitions  from  the  Assem 
blies  of  six  colonies,  and  the  representations  of  their 
agents,  conspicuous  amongst  whom  was  Franklin,  agent 
for  Pennsylvania.  It  was  signed  by  commission  on  be 
half  of  the  king — then  suffering  from  a  malady  which  is 
supposed  to  have  been  in  fact  the  first  visitation  of  his 
subsequent  insanity — March  22, 1765.  It  contained  sixty- 
two  sections,  and  imposed  fifty-four  separate  duties, 
ranging  from  a  halfpenny  per  copy  on  every  pamphlet  or 
paper  not  exceeding  half  a  sheet,  to  io/.  on  the  admission 
to  practice  of  any  '  counsellor,  solicitor,  attorney,  advo 
cate,  or  proctor/ 

The  measure  was  received  in  America  with  very 
various  feelings.  Franklin  thought  that  '  the  sun  of  liberty 
Patrick  was  sett'  Otis  Declared  it  to  be  the  duty  of  all 
Henrys  <  humbly  and  silently  to  acquiesce  in  all  the 
decisions  of  the  supreme  legislature.'  Younger 
men  were  less  desponding  and  less  submissive.  In  the 
Virginian  House  of  Burgesses,  Patrick  Henry,  its  youngest 
member,  carried  five  resolutions  asserting  the  rights  of 
the  colonies,  and  denying  the  authority  of  the  British 
parliament  to  tax  them.  A  passage  in  his  speech  has 
often  been  quoted  as  an  instance  of  rhetorical  adroitness. 
'  Caesar/  he  exclaimed,  <  had  his  Brutus  ;  Charles  I.  had 
his  Cromwell ;  and  George  III.' .  .  . — '  Treason,  treason ! ' 
was  the  cry  that  rose  from  all  sides — 'and  George  III. 
may  profit  by  their  example,'  was  Henry's  deft  conclusion. 
Resolutions  similar  to  those  of  the  Virginian  house  were 
passed  in  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  other  colonies. 

The  Massachusetts  Assembly  convoked  a  Congress  at 
New  York  for  the  month  of  October,  November  i  being  the 
date  on  which  the  Stamp  Act  was  to  come  into  force. 
The  proposal  hung  fire  for  awhile,  till,  in  July,  South 
Carolina  accepted  the  invitation  of  Massachusetts,  and 


1  765-     Struggle  before  the  War  (1763-75).        71 

other  legislatures  gradually  did  the  same.  Meanwhile 
agitation  spread  amongst  the  people.  At  Acongress 
Boston,  in  August,  Lord  Bute,  the  English  convened; 
minister,  and  Oliver,  the  Boston  stamp-master,  Boston  and 
were  hung  in  effigy,  left  hanging  all  day,  taken  elsewhere- 
down  at  nigjit,  and  carried  on  biers,  in  a  great  torchlight 
procession  through  the  streets,  to  the  cry  of  '  Liberty, 
Property,  and  No  Stamps/  The  stamp  office,  then  being 
built,  was  levelled  and  set  fire  to,  and  the  windows  of 
Oliver's  house  broken,  after  which  the  figures  were  burnt 
amid  the  cheers  of  a  vast  multitude.  Notwithstanding 
Oliver's  public  announcement  that  he  would  resign,  riots 
broke  out  a  few  days  later,  in  which  the  house  of  Governor 
Hutchinson  was  sacked  ;  the  rioters  when  arrested  were 
rescued,  and  remained  unpunished.  The  stamp-masters 
of  New  Hampshire,  New  Jersey,  New  York,  voluntarily 
resigned  their  offices  ;  those  of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania, 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut  were  forced  to  do  so.  The 
last,  a  man  named  Ingersoll,  being  threatened  with  death 
by  some  500  mounted  farmers  and  freeholders,  each 
armed  with  a  white  club,  kept  them  at  bay  for  three  hours, 
but  at  last  gave  in,  as  it  was  '  not  worth  dying  for/  As 
he  rode  back  into  Hartford  on  his  white  horse,  with  the 
crowd  after  him,  he  said  that  he  now  understood  the 
meaning  of  '  Death  on  a  pale  horse,  and  hell  following 
him.' 

There  was  more  in  all  this  than  mere  rioting.  Already 
it  had  been  written  in  a  Boston  paper  that  *  North  Ameri 
can  liberty  was  dead,  but  she  had  left  one  son,  indepen. 
Independence,  the  hope  of  all  when  he  should  dencc 
come  of  age/    '  Join  or  die  *  was  the  motto  of  spoke/of  : 
a  new  paper  published  at   New  York.    And 


on  October  7,  the    Congress    met    at    New  and  its  pro- 

York,  twenty-eight  delegates  strong,  represent 

ing  nine  colonies  —  Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Con- 


72        TJie  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

necticut,  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
Maryland,  and  South  Carolina.  They  drew  up  a  petition 
to  the  king,  and  a  memorial  to  parliament  in  which — 
chiefly  through  the  vehement  opposition  of  Gadsden,  a 
South  Carolina  delegate — all  arguments  drawn  from  royal 
charters  were  discarded.  The  idea  of  colonial  repre 
sentation  in  the  British  parliament  was  disclaimed  as  im 
practicable,  and  whilst  *  all  due  subordination  to  the  par 
liament  of  Great  Britain '  was  acknowledged,  its  right  to 
tax  the  colonies  was  denied.  Six  colonies,  by  their  dele 
gates,  signed  the  papers,  and  became,  to  use  their  expres 
sion,  '  a  bundle  of  sticks  which  could  neither  be  bent  nor 
broken'  (Oct.  25). 

On  October  31  Governor  Golden  and  all  the  royal 
governors  took  the  oath  to  carry  the  Stamp  Act  into 
The  Stamp  effect.  On  November  i  there  was  not  a  stamp- 
b^carried1  master  m  ^e  colonies,  nor  a  stamp  to  be  seen, 
into  effect.  The  day  was  signalised  in  several  towns  by 
processions  carrying  the  Stamp  Act  to  be  burned  or 
buried,  or  again  by  the  funeral  of  a  coffin  bearing  the 
name  of  Liberty,  which  after  being  lowered  into  the  grave 
was  raised  again  with  the  inscription  *  Liberty  Revived.' 
Handbills  posted  at  the  street  corners  in  Boston  warned 
those  who  should  distribute  or  use  stamped  sheets  to  look 
to  themselves.  Oliver  was  compelled  to  carry  out  his 
promised  resignation  under  a  tree,  now  known  as  Liberty 
Tree,  and  to  take  an  oath  before  a  justice  of  the  peace 
never  to  take  measures  to  enforce  the  Stamp  Act  in 
America  (Dec.  17).  Open  rioting  was  confined,  however, 
to  New  York.  For  a  time  (except  in  Rhode  Island)  the 
courts  were  closed,  lest  for  want  of  stamps  the  proceed 
ings  should  be  illegal,  and  ships  feared  to  go  to  sea 
without  stamped  papers  ;  but  after  awhile  all  went  on  as 
usual. 

There  had  been  a  change  of  ministry  in  England  be- 


1766-7-    Struggle  before  the  War  (1/63-75).       73 

tween  the  passing  of  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  date  appointed 
for  carrying  it  into  execution.  The  Rocking-  ^  Rock 
ham  Cabinet  was  far  weaker  than  its  prede-  mgham 
cessor,  but  better  disposed  towards  America.  p^^Vices 
During  the  recess  (January  1766)  Pitt's  advice  th at  America 
was  asked  by  the  Cabinet  as  to  the  measures 
to  be  taken  with  regard  to  America.  He  gave  it  from 
his  seat  in  parliament,  which  he  had  not  for  a  long  time 
attended.  '  He  could  not  be  silent/  he  said, '  on  a  question 
that  might  mortally  wound  the  freedom  of  three  millions 
of  virtuous  and  brave  subjects  beyond  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 
The  Americans  were  the  sons,  not  the  bastards  of  Eng 
land.  They  were  entitled  to  the  common  right  of  repre 
sentation,  and  could  not  be  bound  to  pay  taxes  without 
their  consent/  Later  on  in  the  debate,  in  reply  to  Gren- 
ville,  who  had  charged  the  seditious  spirit  of  the  colonies 
to  the  factions  in  the  House,  Pitt  uttered  his  famous  words, 
soon  edaoed  from  shore  to  shore  of  the  Atlantic  :  *  The 
gentleman  tells  us  America  is  obstinate  ;  America  is 
almost  in  open  rebellion  ;  I  rejoice  that  America  has  re 
sisted?  Yet  even  he,  whilst  recommending  the  absolute 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  added  :  '  At  the  same  time,  let 
the  sovereign  authority  of  this  country  over  the  colonies 
be  asserted  in  as  strong  terms  as  can  be  devised,  and  be 
made  to  extend  to  every  point  of  legislation,  that  we  may 
bind  their  trade,  confine  their  manufactures,  and  exercise 
every  power  whatsoever,  except  that  of  taking  their  money 
out  of  their  pockets  without  their  consent.' 

Both  recommendations  were  adopted. 

A  year  after  it  was  passed,  the  Stamp  Act  was  re 
pealed,  on  the   ground  that  its   continuance 
'  would  be  attended  with  many  inconveniences,  Act  re- 
and    might    be  productive    of    consequences 
greatly  detrimental  to  the  commercial  interests  tory  Act 
of  these  kingdoms.'    (6  Geo.  III.  c.  11,)     But  at  the 


74        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D 

same  time  the  Declaratory  Act  was  passed  '  for  the  better 
securing  the  dependency  of  his  Majesty's  dominions 
in  America  upon  the  crown  and  parliament  of  Great 
Britain/  This  declared  that  the  colonies  and  plantations 
in  America '  have  been,  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  sub 
ordinate  unto  and  dependent  upon  the  imperial  crown 
and  parliament  of  Great  Britain  ; '  and  that  the  crown, 
with  the  advice  and  consent  of  parliament,  '  had,  hath, 
and  of  right  ought  to  have,  full  power  and  authority  to 
make  laws  and  statutes  of  sufficient  force  and  validity  to 
bind  the  colonies  and  people  of  America,  subjects  of  the 
crown  of  Great  Britain,  in  all  cases  whatsoever; '  and  again, 
that  all '  resolutions,  votes,  orders,  and  proceedings '  in  any 
of  such  colonies  or  plantations,  whereby  the  power  and 
authority  of  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain  to  make  laws 
and  statutes  was  denied  or  drawn  into  question,  are '  utterly 
null  and  void  to  all  intents  and  purposes  whatsoever/ 

In  the  first  instance  the  repeal  only  of  the  obnoxious 
Stamp  Act  was  noticed  by  the  colonists,  the  Declaratory 
Rejoicings  in  Act  being  overlooked.  The  people  gave  them- 
the  colonies.  seives  up  to  joy<  instead  of  the  funereal  tolling 
which  used  to  greet  the  arrival  of  vessels  carrying  stamps, 
merry  peals  rang  from  church  to  church.  The  women, 
who  had  resolved  not  to  wear  any  clothes  of  English 
stuff,  bought  new  ones  for  the  king's  birthday  (June  4), 
giving  the  old  to  the  poor.  Boston  celebrated  a  special 
holiday  (May  19). 

This  favourable  temper  was  not  suffered  to  last  long. 
The  British  Government  had  not  renounced  its  purpose 
Further  °^  ma^mg  revenue  out  of  the  colonies,  nor  had 
obnoxious  the  parliament  disclaimed  the  right  4p  taxation 
measures.  and  of  interference  with  their  trade. '  An  act  of 
1766  forbad  absolutely,  under  pain  of  forfeiture  of  both 
goods  and  vessel,  the  importation  into  Jamaica  or  Do 
minica  of  the  chief  staples  of  the  North  American  colonies. 


1766.     Struggle  before  the  War  ( 1763-75).        75 

If  another  act  of  the  same  session  somewhat  reduced 
certain  import  duties  payable  in  those  colonies,  it  was 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  an  act  of  the  following 
session,  known  as  the  Revenue  Act,  imposing  duties  on 
the  import  from  Great  Britain  into  any  colony  or  planta 
tion  in  America,  of  glass,  tea,  paper,  and  other  articles, 
and  directing  the  application  of  the  duties  '  for  defraying 
the  charges  of  the  administration  of  justice,  and  the  sup 
port  of  the  civil  government/ 

But  there  was  another  source  of  dissatisfaction.  The 
American  colonies  had  hitherto,  for  the  most  part,  de 
fended  themselves  against  aggression,  and  TheQuar 
had  often  undertaken,  of  their  own  accord,  ex-  taring  A". 
peditions  against  England's  enemies.  When  o"ts£enNew 
British  troops  had  been  sent  over,  quarters  YorkAssem- 
had  been  found  for  them  under  provincial  acts. 
During  the  Seven  Years  War,  Lord  Loudoun,  as  com- 
mander-in-chief,  had  set  the  example  of  insisting  on  free 
quarters  for  his  officers  (1756).  In  1765  the  first  *  Quar 
tering  Act' — afterwards  continued  yearly — was  passed, 
requiring  the  colonies  to  provide  the  king's  troops  with 
certain  stores,  and  with  barracks.  Massachusetts  refused 
to  supply  stores  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of 
the  act ;  New  York  did  the  same,  passing  an  Act  of 
Assembly  of  its  own  for  similar  purposes,  but  with  incon 
sistent  provisions.  In  retaliation,  the  British  Government 
now  resorted  to  the  severe  measure  of  suspending  the 
New  York  constitution  ;  an  act  being  passed  'for  restrain 
ing  and  prohibiting  the  Governor,  Council,  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  province  of  New  York,  until  pro 
vision  shall  have  been  made  for  furnishing  his  Majesty's 
troops  with  all  the  necessaries  required  by  law,  from 
passing  or  assenting  to  any  Act  of  Assembly,  vote,  or 
resolution  for  any  other  purpose/ 

Strange  to  say,  most  of  the  above  measures  were 


76       The  War  of  American  Independence. 


A.D. 


passed  under  the  administration  of  Pitt,  now  Earl  of 
The  Chat-  Chatham,  to  whom  several  colonies  had  been 
ham  Cabinet  voting  statues.  At  the  express  invitation  of  the 

king  (July  6,  1766),  he  hac\  although  enfeebled 
by  illness,  become  the  head  of  a  Cabinet  containing  several 
members  favourable  to  America  (Lord  Shelburne  in  par 
ticular),  but  bitterly  opposed  by  the  Rockingham  Whigs 
Lord  Chatham's  infirmities  so  increased  upon  him  that 
towards  the  end  of  1766  he  had  to  leave  London  for  Bath, 
nevermore  to  appear  as  a  minister  in  the  House  of  Lords. 
The  brilliant  but  reckless  Charles  Townshend,  taking  the 
lead  in  his  absence,  resolved  to  raise  a  revenue  from 
America.  Chatham  in  vain  tried  to  get  rid  of  Towns 
hend,  and  instead  of  resigning,  withdrew  altogether 
from  business,  leaving  the  leadership  to  the  Duke  of 
Grafton  (March  n,  1767).  He  was  even  led  to  de 
clare  that  he  would  not  retire  from  the  ministry  except 
by  the  king's  command  (June  1 767).  Virtually  the  Cabinet 
was  henceforth  the  king  himself,  more  especially  when, 
after  the  sudden  death  of  Charles  Townshend  (Sept. 
1767),  his  place  was  rilled  by  the  clear-sighted  but  weak- 
willed  Lord  North.  Two  months  later,  the  Colonial  depart 
ment  was  taken  from  Lord  Shelburne  and  given  to  Lord 
Hillsborough  (December),  who  soon  manifested  the  pur 
pose  of  coercing  the  colonies.  At  last  Lord  Shelburne's 
dismissal  was  insisted  on  (he  anticipated  it  by  resigning), 
(Oct.  1768).  This  was  too  much  for  Chatham,  who  threw 
up  office,  notwithstanding  the  solicitations  of  the  king. 

The  old  discontents  of  course  now  broke  out  afresh  in 
Renewed  America.  The  right  of  parliament  to  legislate 
agitation  in  for  the  colonies  had  been  denied  for  the  first 
non-^mporta-  time  in  the  Massachusetts  House  of  Assembly 
ment?ree~  (end  of  J766)-  Choiseul,  the  French  prime 
French  in-  minister,  had  already  sent  an  agent  to  America 

— Colonel  de  Kalb,  an  Alsatian,  who  afterwards 
served  in  the  war  on  the  American  side — and,  through 


1767-8.    Struggle  before  the  War  (1763-75)-      77 

his  minister  in  London,  was  paying  court  to  Franklin. 
Before  the  time  appointed  (Nov.  20)  for  the  collection  oi 
the  new  taxes,  after  a  vain  attempt  to  obtain  an  early 
convening  of  the  Legislature,  the  inhabitants  of  Boston 
met  (Oct.  28,  1767),  and  resolved  to  forego  the  importa 
tion  and  use  of  many  articles  of  British  production 
and  manufacture,  appointing  a  committee  to  obtain 
signatures  to  an  agreement  for  this  purpose,  and  direct 
ing  their  resolutions  to  be  forwarded  throughout  the 
colonies.  The  Massachusetts  House  of  Assembly  (Jan. 
12,  1768)  adopted  a  letter  to  be  sent  to  their  agent  for 
communication  to  the  British  ministry,  protesting,  amongst 
other  things,  against  all  acts  of  the  British  parliament  for 
taxing  the  colonies.  A  month  later  they  sent  a  circular 
letter  to  all  the  colonies,  requesting  them  to  join  in  some 
suitable  measure  of  redress.  Petitions  to  the  king,  re 
monstrances  to  the  parliament,  began  to  pour  in.  A  sloop 
was  discharged  in  Boston  of  a  cargo  of  wines,  whilst  the 
tide-waiter  on  board  was  kept  a  prisoner  in  the  cabin. 
The  sloop  was  seized  by  the  collector ;  the  collector's 
boat  was  dragged  through  the  streets  and  burnt  on  the 
common  (June  10).  The  captain  was  prosecuted,  but  no 
evidence  was  forthcoming,  and  his  ship  was  restored  to 
him.  The  Massachusetts  Assembly,  when  requested  by 
the  governor,  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  for  the 
Colonies,  to  rescind  the  circular  letter,  refused  to  do  so 
by  92  votes  to  17.  The  Governor  dissolved  the  Assembly. 
The  merchants  of  Boston  entered  into  an  agreement 
against  importation,  and  '  appointed  an  influential  com 
mittee,  who  took  measures  to  induce  or  force  all  to 
come  into  the  agreement/  Women — '  daughters  of 
Liberty ' — gave  up  the  use  of  tea.  Choiseul  was  already 
thinking  of  offering  a  treaty  of  commerce  to  the  Ameri 
cans.  Just  at  this  time,  moreover,  the  French  population 
of  Louisiana  had  risen  upon  the  Spanish  authorities, 


78        The  War  of  American  Independence       A.D. 

and  claimed  to  be  either  a  French  colony  or  a  republic, 
a  proceeding  which  was  deemed  by  the  French  to  be  *  at 
least  a  good  example  for  the  English  colonies.'  The 
attempt  was  quelled  in  August  of  the  following  year, 
but  it  showed  that  there  was  revolution  in  the  air  of  the 
American  continent. 

Governor  Bernard  having  refused  to  issue  writs  for  a 
new  Assembly,  a  convention  was  called  in  Boston,  after  a 
The  Boston  precedent  set  in  1688.  This  convention,  at- 
Convention.  tended  by  delegates  from  nearly  every  settle- 
ment  in  the  colony,  refused  to  break  up  at  the  bidding  of 
the  governor,  and  the  members  conducted  their  proceed 
ings  so  adroitly  that  Attorney- General  de  Grey,  when 
consulted  as  to  whether  they  had  been  guilty  of  treason, 
declared  that  he  doubted  whether  they  had  been  guilty  of 
an  overt  act,  though  he  was  sure  they  had  come  '  within 
a  hair's  breadth  of  it.' 

Meanwhile  the  news  had  come  that  a  standing  army 
was  to  be  kept  in  the  colonies.  On  September  28,  just 
Troops  sent  after  the  Convention  broke  up,  seven  vessels  of 
Seshf  §?£.  war  arrived  in  Boston  from  Halifax,  with  seven 
boj°xfh\.  hundred  men  on  board,  and  drew  up  in  line, 

and  North's  .  v  ' 

policy ;  broadside  to  the  town,  the  gunners  standing  to 
wihfr^ton  their  guns  witn  lighted  matches.  They  landed 
(1768-9).  on  October  u,  but  quarters  were  refused,  and 
it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  that  any  could  be  found. 
More  troops  followed;  by  the  end  of  the  year  there  were 
four  thousand  regulars  in  Boston.  To  the  westward,  on 
the  other  hand,  many  posts  were  abandoned.  It  was  the 
policy  of  Lord  Hillsborough  to  *  extend  an  unbroken 
line  of  Indian  frontier  from  Georgia  to  Canada.'  Lord 
North  in  parliament  declared  that  he  would  never  think 
of  repealing  the  Revenue  Act  until  he  saw  America 
prostrate  at  his  feet.  The  Assembly  met  in  1 769 ;  but 
finding  itself  surrounded  by  soldiers,  refused  to  do 


1769-70.   Struggle  before  the  War  (1763-75).     79 

business.  The  feelings  which  had  by  this  time  been 
aroused  in  the  breasts  of  men  by  no  means  of  impulsive 
temperament,  may  be  judged  of  by  a  letter  of  Washington 
to  George  Mason,  dated  April  5,  1769.  '  At  a  time  when 
our  lordly  masters  in  Great  Britain  will  be  satisfied  with 
nothing  less  than  the  deprivation  of  American  freedom/  he 
wrote,  it  was  clearly  his  opinion  '  that  no  man  should 
scruple  or  hesitate  a  moment  to  use  arms  in  defence  of  so 
valuable  a  blessing/  although  only  as  *  the  last  resource. 
Yet  for  years  after,  as  will  be  seen,  he  deprecated  the  idea 
of  American  independence. 

Nor  did  New  England  stand  alone.  Virginia  passed 
strong  resolutions,  which  were  followed  by  others  in  both 
Carolinas,  Delaware,  Maryland,  New  York.  The 

J  ,  Spread  01 

non-importation  agreements  spread  everywhere  mm-importa 
—Washington  laid  one  before  the  Virginia  As-  £°e*£f  t£e 
sembly — and  home  manufactures  sprang   up.  Boston 
The  graduates  of  Harvard  College,  in  Massa-  m 
chusetts,  stood  up  to  take  their  degrees,  clad  in  New  Eng 
land  black  cloth.    The  imports  from  England  into  all  the 
colonies  fell  off  to  a  serious  extent.     Bitter  feelings  grew 
up  between  soldiers  and  citizens.     There  was  rioting  at 
New  York;    in   the    ' Boston   massacre '  three    citizens 
were  killed,  and  several  wounded  (March  5,  1770).     The 
victims  had  a  public  funeral,  and  the  troops  were  sent  to 
their  barracks. 

Lord  North,  who  had  succeeded  to  the  premiership, 
thought  to  appease  the  discontent  of  the  colonists  through 
a  compromise,  by  which  all  the  obnoxious  Lord  North 
duties  were  removed,  except  that  on  tea.  attempts  a 

....  .  .  compromise  ; 

To  this  henceforth  the  non-importation  agree-  the  Tea  Act 
ments    (which    indeed   had   only    been    fully  (I77°)- 
observed  in  New  York)  were  confined,  and  for  nearly 
two  years  there  was  a  comparative  lull   in   the  storm. 
In  violation  of  the  Massachusetts  charter,  which  reserved 


8o       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

to  the  governor  the  command  of  its  forts,  Castle  William 
at  Boston  was  surrendered  by  him  to  the  royal  com- 
mander-in-chief.  The  popular  party  in  North  Carolina, 
known  as  l  regulators/  were  forcibly  put  down.  Fugitives 
from  among  them,  however,  crossed  the  Alleghanies,  de 
scended  into  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee,  and  there  by 
written  agreement  founded  a  small  republic  of  their  own 
(1772).  The  settlers  of  Illinois  did  not  go  quite  so  far, 
but  refused  to  submit  to  the  crown  authorities,  and 
claimed  institutions  like  those  of  Connecticut.  Virginia 
protested  against  the  royal  instructions  which  forbad  the 
governor  to  assent  to  any  law  by  which  the  importation 
t  of  slaves  should  be  in  any  respect  prohibited  or  obstructed. 

The  spark  of  a  new  conflict  flew  out  from  tiny  Rhode 
Island,  always  keen  for  trade,  whether  legal  or  not.  An 
The  burning  act  had  just  been  passed  which  made  it  a 
°GSLS  ee  '  capital  offence  wilfully  and  maliciously  to  burn 
1772.  or  destroy  any  ship  or  vessel  of  war,  or  any 

military,  naval,  or  victualling  stores,  and  allowed  trials 
for  any  such  offence  committed  out  of  the  realm  to  take 
place  in  any  county  within  it.  In  the  teeth  of  this  act,  at 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  a  royal  schooner,  the l  Gaspee,' 
stationed  on  the  coast  to  prevent  smuggling,  having  been 
led  on  by  a  vessel  which  she  was  pursuing  into  shoal 
water,  was  boarded,  seized,  and  burnt  by  night  (June  9, 
1772),  and  a  reward  of  5oo/.  failed  to  procure  any  evi 
dence  against  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrage. 

Samuel  Adams  now  propounded  a  plan,  which  he  had 
been  maturing  for  a  whole  year,  for  creating 

1  ne  com-  ,  .         . 

mittees  committees  of  correspondence,  to  be  appointed 
spondee:  by  town  meetings.  Boston  set  the  example, 
destruction  which  was  rapidly  followed  by  the  Massachu- 
Boston  setts  towns,  then  by  Virginia,  by  South  Caro- 
d77*-3).  }ma^  an(j  ky  an  NCW  England.  Scarcely  any 
tea  was  consumed  but  Dutch ;  the  Revenue  Act  proved  a 


1 772-4.     Struggle  before  the  War  ( 1 763-75).      8 1 

dead  failure.  In  vain,  to  encourage  consumption,  did 
parliament  grant  a  drawback  on  the  export  of  tea  to  the 
American  colonies  (as  also  to  Ireland),  first  of  three-fifths 
of  the  English  export  duties,  then  of  the  whole ;  in  vain 
were  shiploads  of  tea  consigned  to  the  colonies,  instead 
of  waiting  for  the  orders  which  did  not  come.  The  '  Sons 
of  Liberty'  organisations,  which  had  now  been  in  existence 
for  some  years,  determined  that  it  should  not  be  landed,  or 
if  landed,  not  sold.  At  Philadelphia  and  New  York  the 
ships  were  sent  back  without  breaking  bulk;  at  Charleston 
the  tea  was  landed,  but  left  to  rot  in  damp  cellars.  At 
Boston,  where  Governor  Hutchinson's  sons  were  the  con 
signees,  the  governor  gave  orders  that  the  ships  should  not 
sail  till  the  duties  were  paid.  For  weeks  the  people  kept 
watch  on  the  docks  to  prevent  the  landing  of  the  tea.  At  a 
great  meeting  of  7,000  people  (December  16, 1 773), to  which 
men  poured  in  from  twenty  miles  round,  fervid  speeches 
were  made  by  Samuel  Adams,  Josiah  Quincy,  and  others. 
Towards  evening,  at  a  war-whoop  from  the  gallery,  the 
meeting  broke  up,  and  some  fifty  sham  Indians  proceeded 
to  the  wharf  where  three  tea-ships  were  moored,  boarded 
them,  and  threw  the  contents  of  342  chests  of  tea  into  the 
water ;  the  whole  proceedings  being  carried  on  in  perfect 
order,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  multitude.  The  Boston 
newspapers  were  pressing  meanwhile  for  a  Congress  of 
American  States  to  frame  a  Bill  of  Rights,  or  to  form  an 
American  commonwealth.  A  month  later  (January  25, 
1774),  a  Scotch  preventive  officer  was  tarred  and  fea 
thered,  and  paraded  under  the  Boston  gallows. 

The  news  of  this  proceeding  was  received  with  indig 
nation  by  the  English  Parliament,  and  there  indignation 
was  a  talk  of  arresting  Franklin,  now  the  agent  of  Pariia- 

r-  f  i  »           •  •  i'ii       ii  ment ;  the 

of  four  colonies.    A  petition  which  he  hao  pre-  Boston  Port 
sented  from  the  Massachusetts  House  of  As-  Act 
sembly  to  the  Privy  Council  for  the  removal  of  the  governor 


82       The  War  of  American  Independence*     A.IX 

was  dismissed,  as  '  groundless,  vexatious,  and  scandalous,' 
and  he  was  himself  deprived  of  his  office  of  deputy  post 
master  for  the  colonies.  An  act  known  as  the  Boston  Port 
Act  was  passed,  to  forbid  temporarily '  the  landing  and  dis 
charging,  lading  or  shipping  of  goof's,  wares,  and  mer 
chandise,  at  the  town  and  within  the  harbour  of  Boston/ 
which  were  placed  in  a  state  of  quasi-blockade. 

This  act  was  but  one  of  a  group  of  five  statutes  of  the 
same  session  (14  George  III.)  directed  against  the  colonies, 
which  were  now  virtually  in  a  state  of  rebellion, 
repressive  The  second  aimed  at  securing  the  impartial  ad- 
measures.  ministration  of  justice  in  the  cases  of  persons 
questioned  for  any  acts  done  by  them  in  the  execution 
of  the  law,  or  for  the  suppression  of  riots  and  tumults,  in 
the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  It  gave  protection  to 
magistrates  and  others  against  local  process  for  acts  done 
in  the  execution  of  their  duty,  allowing  the  taking  of  bail 
and  the  changing  to  any  other  colony,  or  to  Great  Britain, 
of  the  place  of  trial  of  magistrates,  revenue  officers,  or 
soldiers  indicted  for  capital  offences  in  Massachusetts. 
A  third  act,  'for  the  better  regulating  the  govern 
ment  of  the  province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New 
England/  revoked  in  part  the  Massachusetts  charter.  It 
transferrsd  from  the  assembly  to  the  governor  the  ap 
pointment  of  his  council ;  vested  in  him  the  sole  right  of 
appointment  and  removal  of  sheriffs,  and  of  all  judges  of 
the  inferior  courts,  and  other  legal  officers,  as  well  as 
of  the  chief  justice  after  the  first  vacancy ;  vested  in  the 
sheriffs  so  appointed  the  right  of  returning  the  juries ; 
and  forbade  meetings  without  the  governor's  consent, 
except  for  the  election  of  representatives  and  petty 
officers.  A  fourth  legalised  the  quartering  of  troops  in  the 
North  American  colonies.  The  fifth,  professing  to  make 
f  more  effectual  provision  for  the  government  of  the  pro 
vince  of  Quebec  in  North  America/  extended  the  limits  of 


1774-      Struggle  before  ttie  War  (1765-7$).        83 

the  province  to  the  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  so  as  to 
include  five  of  the  present  States  of  the  Union  :  Ohio; 
Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin.  Although 
some  of  these  bills  were  vigorously  opposed  in  parlia 
ment  by  Burke,  Barre*,  and  others,  all  were  carried  by  large 
majorities.  Yet  the  issue  seemed  to  be  clearly  seen. 
In  the  debate  on  an  address  to  the  crown  which  had 
preceded  the  five  measures,  Wedderburn  (afterwards 
Lord  Loughborough)  had  declared  the  leading  question 
to  be  *  the  dependence  or  independence  of  America. 
Outside  of  parliament,  two  men  of  very  different  opinions 
were  bold  enough  to  advocate  American  independence  : 
Tucker,  Dean  of  Gloucester,  a  well-known  free-trader, 
and  John  Cartwright,  afterwards  an  equally  well-known 
radical.  But  public  opinion  ran  the  other  way,  and  as  a 
concession  to  it,  the  reporting  of  debates  in  parliament  was 
allowed  for  the  first  time.  The  singular  fact,  that  England 
thus  owes  one  of  the  greatest  safeguards  of  her  freedom 
to  the  attempt  to  coerce  America,  has  often  been  noted. 

Lord  North  had  declared  that  if  his  measures  were 
firmly  sustained,  ( peace  and  quietude*  would  'soon  be 
restored/    The  result  was  far  otherwise.     On 
the  first  news  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  the  Vir-  virgSS  and 
ginian  House  of  Burgesses  entered  a  protest  ^J^J111" 
against  it  on  their  journals,   and   set  apart  Congress 
June  i  as  a  day  of  fasting,  'to  implore  the 
divine    interposition  for    averting    the    heavy  calamity 
which  threatened  destruction  to  their  civil  rights  and  the 
evils  of  civil  war,  and  to  give  them  one  heart  and  one  mind 
firmly  to  oppose,  by  all  just  and  proper  means,   every 
injury  to  American  rights/    The  governor  dissolved  the 
House.    The  members  met  elsewhere,  and  resolved  that 
an  attack  on  one  colony' was  an  attack  on  all,  and  that  it 
was  expedient  to  call  together  a  general  Congress.     Mas 
sachusetts  took  a  similar  course,  and  it  was  decided  that 


84       The  War  of  American  Independence. 

a  Congress  should  meet  at  Philadelphia,  in  September.  In 
the  interval  county  meetings  were  held  —  the  most  re 
markable  of  which  was  that  of  Fairfax  County,  presided 
over  by  Washington.  This  assembly  adopted  twenty- 
four  resolutions,  which  had  been  drawn  up  by  George 
Mason,  setting  forth  the  points  at  issue  between  England 
and  her  colonies. 

The  f  Continental  Congress/  as  it  was  termed,  met 
accordingly  at  Carpenters'   Hall,  Philadelphia   (Sept.  5, 
*  ^4^'  ar*^  ^  *s  somewliat  remarkable  that  in  the 


The  Conti 

nental  Con-    Quaker  city  it  opened  with  the  celebration  of 

Phfiadei-  the  Church  of  England  service.  Fifty-three 
phia(Sept.  delegates  attended,  Georgia  alone  not  being 
represented.  The  vote  was  to  be  by  colonies, 
whatever  might  be  the  number  of  delegates.  'All 
America/  Patrick  Henry  declared,  'is  thrown  into  one 
mass  .....  I  am  not  a  Virginian,  but  an  American/ 
Among  the  delegates  were,  besides  himself,  Samuel 
Adams  and  George  Washington.  A  declaration  of  the 
rights  of  America  was  drawn  up.  It  claimed  the  power 
of  legislation  through  provincial  assemblies  ;  consent 
ing  indeed  to  the  regulation  of  trade  by  act  of  parlia 
ment,  but  denying  the  right  of  internal  or  external  taxa 
tion  for  raising  a  revenue  in  America.  It  claimed  further 
the  right  of  trial  by  jury  on  the  spot,  and  of  holding  public 
meetings  to  consider  grievances  or  petition  the  king. 
It  declared  the  maintenance  of  a  standing  army  in 
any  colony  in  time  of  peace  without  the  consent  of 
the  legislature,  and  the  exercise  of  the  legislative  power 
by  a  nominated  council,  to  be  alike  illegal  ;  and  it 
cited  as  instances  of  the  violation  of  colonial  rights 
the  Sugar  Act,  the  Stamp  Act,  the  Quartering  Act, 
the  Tea  Act,  the  Act  for  suspending  the  New  York 
legislature,  the  Acts  for  trial  in  Great  Britain  of 
offences  committed  in  America,  the  Boston  Port  Act, 


1774-     Struggle  before  the  War  (1763-75).        85 

the  Massachusetts  Government  Act,  and  the  Quebec 
Act.  Resolutions  were  adopted  for  a  non-consump 
tion  and  non-importation  agreement,  for  an  address 
to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  a  memorial  to  the  in 
habitants  of  America,  and  a  loyal  address  to  the  king, 
besides  one  approving  the  resistance  of  Massachusetts 
to  the  acts  of  parliament,  and  declaring  that  if  these 
were  enforced,  all  America  ought  to  support  her.  In 
addition  to  the  above  addresses,  one  was  drawn  up  to 
the  people  of  Canada,  inviting  them  to  join  the  colonial 
league.  After  sitting  for  fifty-one  days,  the  Congress 
broke  up,  to  meet  again  on  May  10,  1775. 

It  might  have  been  thought  that  the  calling  together 
of  a  Congress  to  protest  against  and  sanction  resistance  to 
the  government  of  the  mother  country  was  Washington 
itself  an  act  of  independence.  Although  this  still  disclaims 
was  generally  felt  to  be  the  case  in  Europe,  colonial  in- 
the  Americans  themselves  did  not  yet  under-  dependence. 
stand  what  they  were  doing.  While  the  Congress  was 
sitting  (Oct.  9,  1774)  Washington  wrote  to  an  old 
comrade,  who  looked  upon  the  proceedings  of  Massa 
chusetts  as  aiming  at  independence  :  '  I  think  I  can 
announce  it  as  a  fact  that  it  is  not  the  wish  or  interest 
of  that  government,  or  any  other  upon  this  continent, 
separately  or  collectively,  to  set  up  for  independence. 
....  I  am  well  satisfied/  he  repeats,  'that  no 
such  thing  is  desired  by  any  thinking  man  in  all  North 
America/  Yet  at  the  same  time  he  declared  that  none 
of  the  colonies  would  '  ever  submit  to  the  loss  of  those 
valuable  rights  and  privileges  which  are  essential  to 
the  happiness  of  every  free  state,  and  without  which 
life,  liberty,  and  property  are  rendered  totally  insecure/ 
and  predicted  that  if  the  ministry  were  determined  to  push 
matters  to  extremity, '  more  blood  would  be  spilt  than  evex 
had  been  in  the  annals  of  North  America/ 


86        TJie  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

Massachusetts  was  indeed  at  this  time  taking  a  bold 
lead.  The  Assembly  had  been  convoked  to  meet  on 
The  Massa  ^cto^er  5-  Under  the  charter  it  should  have 
chwetttpro-  elected  the  council.  Of  the  members  of  thelatter, 
gross*/  C°n"  wno  were  henceforth  to  sit  under  writs  from 

1  °f  t^ie  crown>  a  tf"1^  refused  their  appointments, 
and  the  greater  part  of  those  who  accepted 
them  were  forced  by  public  indignation  to  resign,  while 
the  new  judges  appointed  by  the  crown  were  not  allowed 
to  sit.  General  Gage,  the  governor,  now  countermanded 
by  proclamation  the  writs  for  the  Assembly.  The  elections 
were  held  nevertheless,  and  the  members  met;  but  the 
governor  not  making  his  appearance  to  open  the  session, 
they  resolved  thems  Ves  into  a  provincial  congress,  to 
consider  the  affairs  of  the  colony.  Although  General 
Gage,  besides  being  governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  also 
commander-in-chief  for  all  North  America,  with  four  regi 
ments  of  regulars  under  his  orders,  measures  were  taken 
for  organising  a  militia  of  12,000  men,  one  quarter  of 
whom  were  to  be  enlisted  as  'minute-men/  bound  to 
assemble  in  arms  at  a  minute's  warning.  General  officers 
were  named,  large  stores  collected,  and  two  committees 
appointed — one  of  safety,  to  determine  when  the  services 
of  the  militia  were  required,  to  call  them  out,  and  direct 
the  army;  the  other  of  supplies.  Delegates  were  sent  to 
New  Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  and  Connecticut,  request 
ing  aid  to  make  up  20,000  men,  and  a  correspondence 
was  opened  with  Canada.  Corps  were  accordingly  formed 
in  Virginia,  Rhode  Island,  and  Carolina.  General  Gage 
wrote  to  Lord  Dartmouth  (November  2)  that  the  'edicts 
of  the  provincial  congress '  were  *  implicitly  obeyed/  that 
Massachusetts  was  '  without  courts  of  justice  or  legisla 
ture/  the  whole  country  '  in  a  ferment,  many  parts  of  it 
actually  in  arms,  and  ready  to  unite.'  No  '  decency'  was 
'observed  in  any  place  but  New  York/  which  indeed  had 


1774-      Struggle  before  the  War  (1763-75).        87 

alone  disapproved  of  the  resolutions  of  the  Continental 
Congress. 

Parliament  met  on  November  30.     The  king's  speech 
complained  bitterly  of  the  spirit  of  resistance  and  disobe 
dience  to  law  in  the  American  colonies,  and  ^^  ma_ 
announced  his  firm  resolution  to  withstand  any  jonties  in 

parliament 

attempt  to  weaken  or  impair  the  supreme  au-  against  con- 
thority  of  the  British  legislature.  The  House  "Sam's 
of  Lords  declared  its  '  abhorrence  and  detesta-  warnings, 
tion  of  the  daring  spirit  of  resistance  and  disobedience  to 
the  law7  which  so  strongly  prevailed  in  Massachusetts, 
and  humbly  thanked  the  king  for  taking  measures  to 
enforce  the  laws.  The  House  of  Commons  followed  suit. 
In  vain  did  Chatham,  coming  forward  after  a  long  retire 
ment,  urge  conciliation,  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops 
from  Boston.  '  I  contend/  said  '  the  old  man  eloquent/ 
(  not  for  indulgence,  but  justice  to  America.  .  .  .  Resist 
ance  to  your  acts  was  as  necessary  as  just ;  and  your  vain 
declaration  of  the  omnipotence  of  parliament,  and  your 
imperious  doctrines  of  the  necessity  of  submission,  will  be 
found  equally  impotent  to  convince  or  to  enslave  your 
fellow  subjects  in  America,  who  feel  that  tyranny,  whether 
ambitioned  by  an  individual  part  of  the  legislature,  or  by 
the  bodies  who  compose  it,  is  equally  intolerable  to  all 
British  subjects.  .  .  .  Woe  be  to  him  who  sheds  the  first, 
the  inexpiable  drop  of  blood,  in  an  impious  war  with  a 
people  contending  in  the  great  cause  of  public  liberty  ! .  .  . 
The  Bostonians  have  been  condemned  unheard.  The  in- 
discriminating  hand  of  vengeance  has  lumped  together 
innocent  and  guilty ;  with  all  the  formalities  of  hostility 
has  blocked  up  the  town,  and  reduced  to  beggary  and 
famine  30,000  inhabitants.  ...  I  have  read  Thucydides, 
and  have  studied  and  admired  the  master-states  of  the 
world,  and  I  must  declare  and  avow  that  for  solidity  of 
reasoning,  force  of  sagacity,  and  wisdom  of  conclusion, 


88        The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

under  such  a  complication  of  difficult  circumstances,  no 
nation  or  body  of  men  can  stand  in  preference  to  the 
general  Congress  at  Philadelphia.  All  attempts  to  impose 
servitude  upon  such  men—  to  establish  despotism  over  a 
mighty  continental  nation  —  must  be  vain,  must  be  futile. 
We  shall  be  forced  ultimately  to  retract  ;  let  us  retract 
while  we  can,  not  when  we  must.'  But  he  preached  tc 
deaf  ears.  His  motion  to  address  the  king  for  a  removal 
of  the  troops  from  Boston  was  negatived,  as  was  also 
a  conciliation  bill  which  he  brought  fonvard.  In  the 
Commons,  urgent  petitions  from  the  merchants  of  London 
and  others  for  inquiry  into  the  commercial  policy  pursued 
towards  America  were,  notwithstanding  Burke's  efforts, 
shelved  by  reference  to  a  committee.  To  Horace 
Walpole  conduct  such  as  that  of  the  ministry  seemed  to 
be  *  that  of  pert  children  ;  we  have  thrown  a  pebble  at  a 
mastiff,  and  are  surprised  it  was  not  frightened.' 

The  policy  of  the  ministry  was  indeed  pitiful.  Lord 
North,  affecting  conciliation,  proposed  and  carried  by 
j^  a  large  majority,  in  spite  of  Barre*  and 

North's  new   Burke,    a    resolution   that   parliament  should 
forbear  to  tax  any  colony  that  might  of  its 


tion  of  trade  own  accord  provide  for  the  expenses  of    its 

extended.          ,r  »     •   »i  ,.    i_      •  r     A 

defence  and  civil  government,  hoping,  in  fact, 
to  divide  the  colonies,  since  'if  one  consents,  a  link 
of  the  great  chain  is  broken.1  On  the  other  hand,  the 
attempt  to  quell  Boston  alone  by  crippling  her  trade 
having  failed,  the  same  system  of  quasi-blockade  was 
extended  first  to  New  England  generally,  then  to  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  South 
Carolina,  by  a  similar  but  somewhat  less  extensive  Act, 
New  York,  Delaware,  North  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  al 
though  as  yet  left  out  of  the  pale  of  the  restrictions,  re 
mained  so  only  for  a  few  months  longer.  It  is  almost  need 
less  to  say  that  counter-proposals  by  Burke  and  Hartley 


»775-          Preparations  for  Wary  177$.  89 

for  allowing  the  colonies  to  tax  themselves,  or  only  sus 
pending  for  three  years  the  act  for  the  better  regulation 
of  the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  were  rejected. 
Of  the  reception  of  the  restraint  of  trade  bills  in  parlia 
ment,  Burke  wrote  bitterly  :— <  We  talk  of  starving  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  of  people  with  far  greater  ease  and 
mirth  than  the  regulations  of  a  turnpike.' 

In  America  events  were  rapidly  ripening.     Massachu 
setts  continued  to  lay  in  stores  and  prepare  for  war,  pro 
viding  even  linen  rags  for  the  wounded  of  the  coming 
conflict,    and     issuing    provincial     bills    of    credit    for 
5o,ooo/.     As  early  as  February  27,  1775,  the  first  blood 
might  have  been  shed.     There  was  a  depot  of  military 
stores  at  Salem.     General  Gage  sent  Colonel  Massachu- 
Leslie  with    140  men  to  take   possession   of  ^spfor" 
them,  but  they  had  been  removed  before  his  wa.r.:.a 
arrival.     On  going  to  the  place  to  which  they  barely 
had  been  taken,  he  found  a  drawbridge  which  avertcd- 
he  had  to  cross  drawn  up,  and  when  he  attempted  to  cross 
the  river,  his  boats  were  split  up  by   the  axes   of  the 
peasantry  who  awaited  him  on  the  other  side.     By  way  of 
compremise  he  was  at  last  allowed  to  cross,  but  left  the 
stores  uncaptured. 

In  Virginia  the  convention  met  again  (March  26,  1775). 
Patrick   Henry  introduced   resolutions  for   putting    the 
colony  in  a  state  of  defence.     A  committee  was   named 
for   the   purpose,  which  included   George  Washington. 
A  letter  of   his  of  the    25th  of   this  month,  virgin;a 
addressed   to  his    brother,   shows  him  to  us  prepares 
already  in  command  of  the  Independent  Com-  Washington 
pany    of  Richmond,  and  ready  to  accept  that  ^eifciifc 
of  another,  '  if  occasion  require  it  to  be  drawn  to  the 
out,  as  it  is  my  full  intention  to  devote  my  life  & 
and  fortune  in  the  cause  we  are  engaged  in,  if  needful 


9O       The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

The  train  was  laid ;  there  needed  but  a  spark  to  kindle 

.        it.  Before,  however,  narrating  the  circumstances 

read/fb?      which  constituted  the  actual  outbreak  of  the 

the  spark.        wa^  jej.   us    cast    a    glance    at    the   state   Qf  t^e 

world  in  this  fateful  year  1775. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

1775- 

SINCE  the  Peace  of  Paris  in  1763,  which  virtually 
blotted  France  out  from  the  list  of  the  greater  colonial 
The  colonial  powers,  these  were  reduced  to  four  ;  England, 
powers,  Spain,  Portugal,  and  Holland.  England  and 
Spain  divided  the  North  American  continent  between 
them — since  the  Indians  and  their  chiefs  were  only  recog 
nised  as  creatures  to  be  protected  if  friendly,  and  put  out 
of  the  way  or  out  of  existence  if  troublesome.  Spain  and 
Portugal  in  like  manner  divided  South  America,  with  the 
exception  of  Dutch  Guiana,  comprising  both  English  and 
Dutch  Guiana  of  the  present  day,  and  French  Guiana, 
then  a  mere  foothold  for  France  on  the  continent.  The 
flags  of  several  European  nations  floated  on  the  West 
Indian  islands,  and  in  most  cases  from  those  where  still 
they  wave  ;  but  that  of  France  was  far  more  prominent 
than  it  is  now,  and  in  particular  she  held  the  larger  and 
richer  half  of  St.  Domingo,  the  second  largest  island  of 
the  whole  group,  whilst  she  retained  as  now  an  islet  or  two 
in  the  Newfoundland  waters,  and  the  right  of  fishing  off 
one  of  its  coasts.  In  Africa  the  preponderant  colonial 
power  was  Portugal,  whose  dominion  was  still  a  reality  on 
the  eastern  as  well  as  on  the  western  coast ;  Spain  also 
had  several  ports  on  the  Barbary  coast.  Holland  had  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  the  Guinea  and  Gold  Coast 


1775-  Europe  in  1775.  91 

were  studded  with  as  many  different  flags  as  the  West 
Indian  islands  themselves — slave-catching  and  slave- 
i  driving  being  then  deemed  to  be  the  two  most  profitable 
businesses  in  the  world.  In  the  eastern  hemisphere  the 
only  real  colonial  empire  was  that  of  Holland  in  the 
eastern  islands ;  and  if  she  had  not  yet  completed  the 
subjugation  of  Java,  she  had  on  the  other  hand  a  flourish 
ing  colony  in  Ceylon,  and  various  settlements  on  the 
mainland  of  India.  Spain  had  then,  as  now,  her  Philip 
pines  ;  Portugal  had  her  Goa  and  her  Macao,  and  was 
still  rather  more  than  a  name  in  India  ;  the  English  East 
India  Company  was  already  at  Bombay,  at  Madras,  at 
Calcutta,  had  acquired  rights  of  territorial  sovereignty, 
had  possessed  itself  of  the  viceroyalty  of  India's  three 
richest  provinces,  Bengal,  Behar,  and  Orissa,  and  was 
virtually  sovereign  of  them  in  the  name  of  the  Mogul 
emperor.  France,  lastly,  though  retaining  some  territory 
in  India,  was  reduced  to  struggle  rather  for  influence  than 
for  power,  but  through  her  possession  of  Bourbon  and 
the  Isle  of  France  (now  Mauritius)  she  still  held  a  strong 
position  as  a  naval  power  in  the  East.  Hence,  though 
she  could  no  longer  be  said  to  have  a  colonial  empire, 
she  could  still,  through  her  navy  and  her  yet  numerous 
possessions  abroad,  hold  her  own  with  the  great  colonial 
powers  themselves. 

Let  us  now  give  a  glance  at  Europe.     Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  were  still  two  kingdoms  under  one  king,  who 
was  also  king  of  Hanover.  France,  within  limits 
not  much    differing  from    her    present   ones 
(except  that  Savoy  and  Nice  had  not  been  annexed,  nor 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  torn  away)  was  still  a  congeries  of 
provinces,   and  had  recently  (1768)    acquired    Corsica. 
Germany  retained  her    clumsy  federal    empire  of  the 
middle  ages,  but  in  her  midst  Prussia  had  sprung  from 
.an  electorate  of  Brandenburg  into  a  kingdom,  and  under 


92       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

Frederick  the  Great  had  defied  at  once  the  two  greatest 
Continental  powers,  Austria  and  France,  riveted  on  her 
self  the  attention  of  Europe,  and  given  a  foretaste  of  that 
energy  which  in  our  own  days  has  placed  her  at  the  head 
of  a  new  German  empire.  Poland  had  still  the  name  of  a 
kingdom,  but  the  first  partition  of  her  territory  between 
Russia,  Prussia,  and  Austria  had  taken  place,  and  3,925 
square  miles  of  country  had  been  stripped  from  her 
by  these  kind  neighbours  (1772).  Unable  to  bear  their 
country's  degradation,  many  Poles  were  emigrating,  and 
the  names  of  more  than  one  will  appear  in  the  history  of 
the  war  of  American  independence.  Russia,  which  had 
for  the  first  time  entered  into  the  sphere  of  western 
politics  during  the  Seven  Years  War,  was  making  herself 
felt  as  a  great  power  under  Catherine  II.  Turkey  had 
vainly  endeavoured  to  support  Poland  ;  but  the  Russians 
had  invaded  Moldavia,  Wallachia,  and  the  Crimea,  had 
sent  a  fleet  into  the  Mediterranean,  roused  the  Morea 
into  insurrection,  and  burnt  the  Turkish  fleet  in  the  Ar 
chipelago.  The  Peace  of  Kainardgi,  concluded  through 
Austrian  mediation  (1774),  had  restored  in  great  measure 
the  status  quo,  except  that  Russia  retained  Azow  and  a 
few  Black  Sea  ports,  with  the  right  of  free  navigation  in 
Turkish  waters. 

The  territories  of  the  three  great  states  of  Eastern 
Europe,  Russia,  Prussia,  and  Austria,  had  thus  been 
greatly  enlarged,  whilst  their  fellowship  in  a  common 
spoliation  created  amongst  them  a  bond  of  union,  which, 
though  snapped  asunder  more  than  once,  has  always 
welded  itself  together  again  by  a  kind  of  magnetic  force, 
and  binds  them  to  this  day.  In  Austria,  whose  flag  waved 
over  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  the  clever  Joseph  had 
reigned  since  1765,  with  his  mother,  Maria  Theresa. 
Joseph  was  a  philosopher-king  like  his  fellow  spoliators, 
Catherine  II.  and  Frederick  II. — but  he  could  not  be 


1767-1775-  Europe  in  1775.  93 

brought  to  favour  the  revolted  colonists,  frankly  averring, 
philosopher  though  he  might  be,  that  *  his  trade  was  to 
be  a  king.'  In  Sweden,  which  had  yet  lost  but  a  fragment 
of  Finland,  and  retained  a  part  of  Pomerania,  a  half-mad 
despot,  Gustavus  III.,  imagined  himself  destined  to  renew 
the  fame  of  a  Gustavus  Adolphus  or  a  Charles  XII.,  but 
was  never  to  realise  his  dream.  Denmark,  with  Norway 
united  to  her,  under  Christian  VII.  had  scandalised  the 
world  by  the  imprisonment  and  divorce  of  a  queen,  herself 
an  English  princess,  and  the  beheading  of  two  noblemen 
accused  of  intriguing  with  her  (1772),  and  had  tied  a  knot 
which  the  sword  alone  has  cut  through  in  our  days,  in  the 
arrangement  for  connecting  Holstein  and  Sleswig  with  the 
Danish  monarchy  (1767).  Italy,  parcelled  out  into  states 
of  all  sorts,  two  or  three  republics  included,  had  not  even 
the  nominal  unity  of  Germany,  and  was  literally — though 
the  insolent  phrase  had  not  yet  been  uttered — a  mere  'geo 
graphical  expression  ; '  but  Sardinia,  the  Italian  counter 
part  of  Prussia,  was  already  a  kingdom ;  and  Bourbons 
reigned  over  the  two  Sicilies,  as  they  did  over  France  and 
Spain.  Spain,  under  Charles  III.  (formerly  Charles  I.  of 
Naples),  generally  followed  the  lead  of  France,  for  whom, 
thanks  to  her  yet  vast  colonial  empire  and  not  inconsider 
able  fleet,  she  was  by  no  means  a  despicable  ally.  She  was 
at  this  moment  engaged  in  an  unprofitable  war  with  the 
Barbaresque  powers.  England,  besides  Gibraltar,  held 
Minorca,  but  Malta  still  belonged  to  its  knights.  Por 
tugal,  under  Joseph  I.,  was  what  it  is.  The  Swiss  con 
federacy  and  Geneva  were  separate  republics.  The 
Netherlands  were  also  a  clumsy  republican  confederation 
under  a  stadtholder. 

Clearly,  in  any  struggle  which  might  break  out  be 
tween  England  and  her  American  colonies,  the  powers 
most  directly  interested  would  be  France  and  Spain,  the 
only  near  neighbours  to  those  colonies  ;  and  more  re- 


94       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.U 

motely,  Holland,  through  her  extensive  trade.  No  other 
France  and  Power  would  be  likely  to  take  more  than  an 
Spain  the  indirect  interest  in  the  contest,  or  indeed,  with 

only  powers       .  .  .  _         .         _,         . 

directly  in-  the  exception  of  Russia,  Sweden,  Denmark, 
tiSmerfcan  and  Portugal,  could,  through  the  possession  of 
struggle.  a  navy,  take  any  part  in  it ;  and  since  France 
dragged  Spain  in  her  wake,  the  disputants  could  practi 
cally  look  to  the  former  alone  as  a  valuable  friend  or  foe 
in  the  struggle. 

In  France  a  young  king  of  spotless  character,  Louis 
XVI.,  had  lately  succeeded  his  grandfather,  the  heartless 
France  the  debauchee,  Loins  XV.  Though  humbled  in  the 
intellectual  course  of  the  Seven  Years  War  in  Europe  by 
Europe°f  Prussia,  and  by  England  beyond  seas  ;  stripped 

Voltaire,        of  her  colonies,  her  finances  in  hopeless  con- 
Rousseau.      -    .         ,  ,  ,    .  . 
fusion,    her  people   steeped   m  misery  to  the 

neck ;  France  was  yet  the  intellectual  centre  of  Europe. 
French  was  not  only  the  universal  language  of  diplomacy, 
but  that  of  nearly  every  court  in  Europe.  Frederick  the 
Great  wrote  in  it,  and  on  the  eve  of  one  of  his  great  battles 
had  composed  an  epistle  in  French  verse  to  Voltaire. 
French  had  been  the  habitual  language  of  our  own 
George  II.  George  III.  was  the  first  of  our  Hanoverian 
kings  to  whom  English  was  a  native  tongue.  Gibbon 
had  begun  by  writing  in  French. '  Voltaire  corresponded 
in  French  with  almost  every  sovereign  in  Europe,  and 
with  nearly  the  whole  world  besides.  The  best  Italian 
comic  dramatist  of  the  age,  Goldoni,  had  resided  in 
Paris  since  1761,  and  written  in  French  all  his  later 
comedies.  Although  the  golden  age  of  German  literature 
had  begun,  it  was  scarcely  known  as  yet  outside  of  Ger 
many.  France,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a  literary  world 
in  herself,  aijd  the  two  greatest  names  in  the  literature 
of  the  century  were  beyond  all  question  those  of  Vol 
taire  and  Rousseau,  the  latter  indeed  not  French  but 


1760-1775-  Europe  in  1775-  95 

French-Swiss.  If  there  was  a  recognised  pope  at  Rome, 
there  was  an  unrecognised  one  at  Ferney,  near  Geneva, 
whose  edicts  were  in  fact  far  more  authoritative  with  the 
world  at  large.  Yet  the  '  patriarch  of  Ferney/  as  Voltaire 
was  often  termed  in  the  language  of  the  day,  now  eighty- 
one  years  of  age,  was  near  the  end  of  his  reign.  The  in 
fluence  of  Rousseau  went  far  deeper  than  his.  The  one 
might  rule  in  princely  style  over  two  leagues  of  terri 
tory,  enriched  not  only  by  the  sale  of  his  works,  but  by 
speculations  of  all  sorts  :  the  other,  a  prey  to  morbid  and 
misanthropic  delusions,  might  be  eking  out  a  pension 
of  58/.  a  year  by  copying  music.  But  the  one  addressed 
himself  solely  to  the  intellects  of  men,  the  other  to  their 
feelings.  The  one  supplied  the  age  with  denials,  the 
other  with  new  beliefs.  Voltaire's  writings  might  inspire 
a  passionate  hatred  towards  what  existed ;  those  of 
Rousseau  excited  a  passionate  desire  for  a  better  future, 
and  a  belief  that  it  could  be  realised. 

One  noteworthy  feature  of  the  age  in  France  for  many 
years  now  had  been  the  sense  of  a  coming  revolution. 
'  '  After  us  the  end  of  the  world ;  after  us  the  de-  ^^^ 
luge/  Louis  XV.  used  to  say.  *  We  are  approach-  coming  re- 
ing  the  age  of  revolution/  wrote  Rousseau  volutlon- 
in  1760;  *  I  hold  it  impossible  that  the  great  monarchies 
of  Europe  can  have  long  to  last/  '  All  that  I  see/  wrote 
Voltaire  in  1762,  'is  casting  the  seeds  of  a  revolution 
which  must  come  without  fail/  M.  de  Tocqueville,  in 
his  admirable  work,  *  L'Ancien  Regime  et  la  Revolution/ 
has  convincingly  shown  that  this  revolution  was  actually 
proceeding  long  before  it  was  recognised  as  existing ;  that 
France  had  been  already  revolutionised  in  her  adminis 
tration  before  she  was  so  politically.  But  in  the  political 
sphere  blows  had  been  already  struck  in  1775,  though  as 
yet  from  afar,  which  served  to  familiarise  the  public  mind 
the  idea  of  change,  and  Malesherbes  had  gone  so 


96       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

far  as  to  propose  to  Louis  XVI.  the  calling  together  of  the 
$  Etats-Ge'ne'raux/  national  assemblies  which  had  been 
disused  since  1614. 

For  the  moment  indeed  all  was  hope.  The  court  was 
purged  from  its  scandals.  Among  the  ministers  whom 
The  new  the  young  king  had  called  to  his  counsels  were 
F^SclTa  two  of  the  Purest  characters  of  France,  Turgot 
hopeful  one ;  and  Malesherbcs.  Of  the  former  it  has  been 
Males- an  said  that  he  proposed  all  the  improvements 
co^riotsT<rfe  which  tne  Revolution  effected.  But  when  evil 
1775-  is  long-rooted,  the  very  uprooting  of  it  may 

create  convulsions.  The  corn  trade  in  France  was 
clogged  with  all  manner  of  restrictions.  There  had  been 
under  Louis  XV.  a  hideous  secret  society,  in  which  the 
king  was  chief  shareholder,  for  keeping  up  the  price  of 
corn  and  speculating  upon  the  hunger  of  the  people.  It 
seems  to  have  lasted  till  1774.  Turgot,  in  the  latter  end 
of  that  year  (September  13,  1774)  declared  the  trade  in 
corn  and  flour  absolutely  free  in  the  interior.  Grain  riots, 
excited,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  by  the  corn  monopolists 
themselves,  ensued.  The  hungry  people  surged  up  to 
Paris,  to  Versailles,  to  petition  the  king  for  cheap  bread. 
Some  of  the  petitioners  were  arrested,  and  two  of  them 
hanged  on  a  new  gallows  forty  feet  high.  As  they 
climbed  to  the  scaffold,  they  called  out  to  the  people 
that  they  were  dying  for  the  people's  cause  (May  18, 
1775), — an  ill  omen,  surely,  for  the  reign  of  a  well- 
meaning  king  and  the  rule  of  a  benevolent  minister. 
In  another  year  Turgot  will  lose  office.  The  old  par 
liaments  meanwhile  have  been  restored,  to  be  finally 
swept  away  before  fifteen  years  have  passed  by. 

The  instinctive  perception  of  an  approaching  over 
throw  of  existing  institutions  goes  far  to  explain  the  interest 
excited  on  the  Continent  by  the  American  Revolution  ; 
while  the  desire  of  that  overthrow  called  forth  the  sym- 


'75°- 75-  France  in  1775.  97 

pathy  or  enthusiasm  with  which  it  was  greeted  by  many. 
But  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  think  that  that    ., 
interest  and  sympathy  dated   only  from    the  pathy  with 
Revolution  itself.     Turgot,  in  an  oration  de-  ^SSfST* 
livered  before  the   French  clergy  twenty-five  American 

.     ,          .     .        .  .  VII  ii        Revolution. 

years  before  it  broke  out  (1750),  had  used  the 
following  words:  'Vast  regions  of  America!  Equality 
keeps  them  from  both  luxury  and  want,  and  preserves  to 
them  purity  and  simplicity  with  freedom.  Europe  herself 
will  find  there  the  perfection  of  her  political  societies,  and 
the  surest  support  of  her  well-being.' 

There   were   moreover   reasons   why  that    sympathy 
should  take  a  specially  passionate  form  in  France.     Eng 
land  was  not  only  the  triumphant  political  rival 
of  France ;  she  was  the  envy  of  her  philoso-  grounds  for 
phers   and    her   patriots.      Montesquieu    had  JJ^fJi. 
pointed  to  the  British  constitution  as  substan-  miration  for 
dally  the  most  perfect  embodiment  of  political 
wisdom.     His  assertion  that  it  was  depictured  already  in 
the  pages  of  the  'Germania'  of  Tacitus,  that  it  had  been 
1  found  in  the  woods'  (a  hyperbole  whereat  Voltaire  has 
not  unnaturally  his  laugh),  just  fell  in  with  Rousseau's 
declamations  about  the  need  of  a  return  to  nature  and 
the  primitive  goodness  of  man.     But  Voltaire  himself  had 
as  it  were  discovered  England  for  France,  had  proclaimed 
the  barbarian  genius  of  Shakespeare,  the  greatness  and 
bad  taste  of  Milton,  had  patted  Tillotson  on  the  back,  and 
exalted   Locke  and  Newton  to  the  skies.     Anglomania 
had  become  the  fashion  of  the  day.     But  by  a  just  retri 
bution  for  the  extermination  of  all  free  faith  in  France 
under  Louis  XIV.  and  Louis  XV.,  it  was  only  the  nega 
tive  side  of  the  English  mind  that  could  influence  the 
French.     England   being   Protestant,  whatever  of  faith 
might  come  from  her  was  contraband;  only  her  infidelity 

M .  H.  U 


98         The  War  jf  American  Independence.     A.D. 

passed  through  the  custom-house.  Hence,  not  only  the 
wonderful  rise  of  Methodism,  but  all  that  rich  under 
growth  of  genuine  Christianity,  springing  up  in  the  most 
diverse  forms  beneath  a  crust  of  formalism  and  scepticism, 
which  is  so  marked  and  peculiar  a  feature  of  the  eighteenth 
century  in  England,  never  touched  contemporary  France. 

This  then  was  the  temper  by  which  France  was 
animated.  Overshadowed  nationally  by  England,  France 
America  for  was  compelled  to  look  up  with  longing  to  her 
France  an  political  liberty,  her  untrammelled  science,  her 
land.  '  freedom  of  speech  and  thought.  What  if  to 
such  a  France  there  should  come  to  be  revealed  another 
England,  still  freer  than  the  one  already  known  in  her 
political  institutions,  still  bolder  in  speedy  with  men  of 
science  of  her  own,  and  withal  belonging  to  a  new  world, 
living  as  it  seemed  to  Europe  on  the  very  fringe  of  the 
wilderness,  and  nearer  to  that  nature  which  R.ousseau  cried 
up,  and,  to  crown  all,  breaking  out  into  a  life-and-death 
conflict  with  the  England  of  the  old  world  ?  Is  it  not  clear 
that  when  such  a  country  was  engaged  in  such  a  struggle, 
France  would  give  full  play  to  all  the  contrary  feelings 
which  England  roused  in  her,  and  that  all  her  resentment 
and  hatred  would  go  towards  the  older  England,  all  her 
admiration  and  love  towards  the  new  ?  Here  then  is  the 
true  secret  of  the  passionate  enthusiasm  which  the  war 
of  American  independence  raised  up  in  France,  and 
which  afterwards  influenced  so  greatly  her  own  Revo 
lution.  No  mere  political  jealousy  of  England  could 
have  given  birth  to  it  ;  it  was  on  the  contrary  the 
setting  free  of  feelings  and  aspirations  which  political 
jealousy  kept  under  check.  But  political  jealousy  co 
operated  with  these  more  generous  feelings,  by  blinding 
the  eyes  of  French  ministers  to  the  dangers  involved  to 
the  monarchy  in  such  feelings  themselves. 

Recent  events  in  Eastern   Europe,  finally,  tended  to 


1746-75-  England  in  1775,  99 

r^ajce  France  restless.     I  have  already  indicated  the  direct 
connexion  of  the  fate  of  Poland,  through  the 

V  r  r  i  •  -i      •>  r  Influence  of 

emigration  of  some  of  her  sons,  with  the  war  of  the  partition 
independence  in  America.  Its  indirect  in-  ofp°land- 
fluence  through  France  was  far  greater  still.  There  was 
a  traditional  friendship  between  France  and  Poland. 
Choiseul,  till  1771  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs 
(whose  desire  to  interfere  in  favour  of  the  American 
colonies  has  already  been  mentioned),  had  been  ready  to  go 
to  war  for  the  sake  of  Poland,  and  had  indeed  sent  thither 
1,500  men  under  a  commander  whose  name  will  figure 
both  for  honour  and  disgrace  in  the  still  distant  revolu 
tionary  wars  of  his  country,  Dumouriez.  But  Louis  XV.  had 
steadily  opposed  war,  and  the  partition  of  Poland,  though 
applauded  by  some  of  the  philosophers,  had  been  felt  as  a 
disgrace  to  France  by  all  the  more  generous-minded  of 
the  young  nobility.  There  was  an  uncomfortable  feeling 
that  France  was  playing  an  inferior  part  in  European 
politics,  and  therefore  also  an  impatience  for  some  daring 
effort  to  restore  her  tarnished  honour,  which  in  a  cause 
capable  of  enlisting  largely  the  public  sympathy  might  ere 
long  prove  irresistible. 

Let  us  now  consider  England  herself.  England. 

Culloden  (1746)  had  blown  to  the  winds  all  reasonable 
hopes  of  the  Jacobite  party.  The  '  Old  Pretender ;  was 
dead  (1766).  The '  Young  Pretender/  the  once  Thejacobite 
brilliant  Charles  Edward,  now  a  drunken  party  extinct, 
debauchee,  had  been  long  since  expelled  from  France. 
His  younger  brother  (Cardinal  York)  was  a  Romish 
priest,  and  could  beget  no  more  claimants  to  the 
English  throne.  Since  1767  the  English  Roman  Catho 
lics  had  begun  to  pray  for  the  Hanoverian  royal  family. 
The  purchase  of  the  Isle  of  Man  from  the  Duke  of 
Athol  had  brought  the  last  outlying  portion  of  the 


roo      The  War  of  American  Independent.      *.D. 

British  Isles  under  the  sovereignty  of  the  crown.  The 
King  of  England  was  no  longer  a  German  prince.  He 
had  proclaimed  in  his  first  speech  to  parliament 
that,  born  and  educated  in  the  country,  he 
gloried  in  the  name  of  Briton.  But  although  upright,  pains 
taking,  and  methodical,  he  was  ill-educated,  prejudiced, 
and  violently  self-willed.  Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy 
element  in  the  politics  of  the  country  was  the  development 
of  his  influence.  From  a  young  man  of  twenty-five,  ruled 
by  Lord  Bute,  George  III.  has  grown  into  a  man  of  thirty- 
seven,  with  high  ideas  of  his  own  prerogative,  checked  only 
by  his  hatred  of  the  Whig  aristocracy.  Minutely  acquainted 
both  with  the  details  of  administration  and  the  springs  of 
party  organisation,  he  combines  with  his  stubbornness  a 
cunning  probably  nearly  akin  to  that  madness  which 
will  eventually  darken  his  latter  days.  In  a  few  years 
he  will  be  seen  chaining  Lord  North  to  office  like  a 
prisoner. 

The  long  struggle  of  the  crown  and  parliament  against 
John  Wilkes  had  established  the  illegality  of  general  war- 
Wiikes  rants/  and  after  three  expulsions  had  left  the 
Junius,'  famous  demagogue  still  member  for  Middlesex 
Burke, m'  and  Lord  Mayor  of  London  (1774).  '  Junius' 
had  run  his  meteor-like  course,  declaiming  with 
virulent  rhetoric  against  the  king  and  every  one  of  his 
ministers  by  turns,  except  Grenville,  for  whom  no  terms 
of  eulogy  seemed  too  warm  beneath  his  pen.  The  sun  of 
Lord  Chatham's  genius  was  setting  ;  that  of  Burke  on  the 
other  hand  was  in  its  meridian  splendour,  and  he  was  now 
the  most  prominent  member  of  the  Opposition,  whilst  the 
star  of  Charles  James  Fox  was  rising  into  view. 

In  the  literary  world  a  kind  of  primacy  answering 
somewhat  to  that  of  Voltaire  on  the  Continent  had  fallen 
to  a  very  different  man,  the  Tory,  Johnson.  Hume,  after 
filling  for  two  years  the  office  of  Under  Secretary  of  State 


1766-75.  England  in 

(1766-8),  had  withdrawn  from  public  life,  and  was  this 
year  attacked  by  the  malady  which  the  next  would  cany 
him  off.    A  far  greater  historian,  Gibbon,  had  Literaturc 
entered  parliament  last  year,  and  in  another  and  art : 

i        r  i  r  u-      J°hnson> 

year  would  bring  out  the  first  volume  of  his  Hume, 
masterpiece,  the  <  Decline   and   Fall    of   the  g^bp°enr; 
Roman  Empire/    Adam  Smith  would  publish   Macpherson, 
his  'Wealth  of  Nations '  in  1776.     Macpher-    Shendan; 
son's  Ossianic  fabrications  or  adaptations,  so  Gams°lds> 
tasteless  to  the  present  age,  were  at  the  height  borough. 
of  their  popularity.     Cowper,  with  reason  already  im 
paired,  was  taking  part  in  the  composition  of  the  Olney 
Hymns,  to  be  next  year  published.     Boswell  was  taking 
note  of  Johnson's  proceedings,  as  Horace  Walpole  of  the 
proceedings  of  England's  literary  and   courtly  classes. 
Sheridan  was  achieving  this  year  his  first  stage  triumph 
in  the  '  Rivals.'     In  the  world  of  art  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds 
was  supreme  ;  but  a  not  unworthy  rival  in  portraiture,  and 
the  first  great  chief  among  English  landscape-painters, 
Gainsborough,  had  come  up  from  Batfr  to  London  last 
year.    The  Royal  Academy  had  been  founded  in  1 768. 

In  regions  mostly  beyond  the  ken  alike  of  Johnson, 
the  surly  literary  autocrat  of  Bolt  Court,  or  Walpole,  the 
aristocratic  letter-writer  of  Strawberry  Hill,  those  poets 
of  the  labour-world,  the  inventors,  whose  genius  was 
needed  to  enable  their  country  to  bear  the  burthen  of 
a  debt  more  than  doubled  by  the  last  war,  and 

.  .  iiiiiii  .         Industry : 

soon  to  be  again  nearly  doubled  by  the  coming  the  inveu- 
struggle,  had  already  begun   their  wondrous  gSiSlSJ 
triumphs.     Jedediah  Strutt  had  improved  the  Arkwright, ' 
stocking-frame;    Hargreaves'     carding-engine  Wedgwood, 
had  been  followed  by  his  spinning-jenny ;  the  Flaxman- 
first  patent  of  Arkwright  the  barber  for  spinning  by  rollers 
had  been  taken  out,  and  its  validity  established  at  law. 
The  import  of  cotton,  from  3,870,392  Ibs.  in  1764,  had  risen 


1C.?       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

to  an  average  of  4,760,000  Ibs.  in  1771-5.  Calico-printing 
had  been  introduced  into  Lancashire  (1768),  and  the  print 
ing  on  stuffs  wholly  made  of  cotton  had  been  allowed  by 
an  act  of  the  previous  year.  Yet  more,  that  mechanical 
agent  had  been  mastered  which  alone  would  develope 
on  their  full  scale  the  results  of  all  previous  inventions. 
Watt,  who  in  1763-4  was  already  examining  and  im 
proving  Newcomen's  clumsy  old  steam-engine,  had  in 
1765  completed  his  own;  and  ten  years  later  had  prac 
tically  secured  for  himself  by  act  of  parliament  (  the  sole 
use  and  property  of  certain  steam-engines,  commonly 
called  fire-engines/  for  twenty-five  years.  He  had  be 
come  in  the  previous  year  a  partner  with  Boulton,  and 
the  famous  Soho  Works,  near  Birmingham,  were  pro 
bably  very  nearly  what  they  were  when  Boswell  a  year 
later  saw  there  about  700  men  at  work,  and  noted  down 
Boulton's  characteristic  words  :  '  I  sell  here,  sir,  what  all 
the,  world  desires  to  have,  power/  Our  pottery  and 
porcelain  manufactures  were  in  their  full  splendour. 
Derby  ware  was  dearer  than  silver.  Wedgwood,  with 
his  works  at  Etruria  and  his  warehouse  in  St.  James's 
Square,  was  at  the  height  of  his  renown,  and  was  em 
ploying,  as  a  modeller,  Flaxman,  a  rising  young  sculptor, 
destined  ere  long  to  be  famous. 

What  was  really,  under  an  old  name,  the  new  science 
of  chemistry,  would  powerfully  contribute  to  the  develop 
ment  of  all  new  industries,  and  Priestley,  the 

Chemistry        TT..  ..  -       .  .  -.  C   •  • 

and  Priest-  Unitarian  minister,  had  just  made  (1774-5),  ms 
neerin11— *  capital  discovery  of  oxygen  gas,  though  without 
Brindley,  understanding  what  he  had  done.  On  the  other 
hand,  improved  means  of  communication  were 
giving  a  new  impetus  to  trade,  and  the  race  of  our  great 
engineers  had  been  called  into  being.  Under  the  muni 
ficent  patronage  of  the  Duke  of  Bridgewater,  Brindley 
had  been  able  to  construct  and  open  the  greater  part  oi 


1 759-75  First  Period.  103 

the  Bridgewater  Canal.  Smeaton,  whose  Eddystone 
lighthouse  has  braved  the  winds  and  waves  since  1759,  was 
at  the  height  of  his  reputation.  Many  of  our  great  canals 
had  been  projected,  several  of  them  had  been  cut,  and 
though  the  country  was  still  infested  by  highwaymen, 
every  session  had  its  crop  of  road  bills. 

The  wonderful  growth  of  population,  between  1760  to 
1770,  had  given  an  impetus  to  agriculture  to  which  the 
increasing  number  of  Enclosure  Acts  in  each 

/>  ^  i        Growth  of 

session  bears   witness,  and   our  first  popular  population; 
writer  on  agriculture,  Arthur  Young,  had  already  JggSSL ; 
published  several  of  his  works.    Junius  in  1768  Arthur 
had  declared  that  England  would  be  '  undone ' 
if  the  American  colonies  were  suffered  to  open  their  trade 
to  the  world.    Yet,  by  the  various  means  above  indicated, 
a  silent  revolution  was  going  on,  which  would  ere  long 
expand  English  trade  to  dimensions  never  yet  attained, 
and  in  no  direction  more  remarkably  than  in  that  of  Eng 
land's  emancipated  colonies. 

Meanwhile,  two  boys  of  six  years  old  were  growing 
up  to  be,  one  the  conqueror  and  scourge  of  Two  boys  of 
Europe,  the  other  the  ultimate  victor  of  that  con-  feon  Bona- 
queror  himself — Napoleon  Bonaparte  in  Cor-  Harths^nd 
sica,  Arthur  Wesley   (afterwards   spelt   Wei-  wdiesiey. 
lesley),  in  the  north  of  Ireland. 


CHAPTER    V. 

THE  WAR  :   FIRST  PERIOD  ;  TILL  THE  FRENCH  ALLIANCE 

(1775-8). 

THE  history  of  the  war  of  American  independence  divides 
itself  naturally  into  two  periods.  In  the  one  (i775~8)  tne 
struggle  is  only  between  the  mother  country  and  her  re 
volted  colonies,  and  hostilities  are  confined  to  the  continent 


IO4       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

of  America,  with  some  little  fighting  on  the  high  seas. 

In  the  other  (1778-83)  France  and  Spain  descend  into  the 

fray,  Holland  is  dragged  into  it,  allies  are  found 

divided  into    by  France  in  the  far  East,  and  warfare  extends 

by0theri°dS    to  a11  Parts  of  the  world-     In  the  one  period 
French          the  story  is  simple,  interesting,  and  in  many 

instances  heroic  ;  in  the  latter  it  is  complex  to 
the  last  degree,  and  with  a  few  brilliant  exceptions,  tamer 
ever  as  it  goes  on. 

General  Gage  was  aware  that  a  dep6t  of  arms  and 
ammunition  had  been  established  at  Concord,  eighteen 
miles  from  Boston.  To  destroy  it,  as  also  to  secure  the 
persons  of  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  whom  he  sup 
posed  to  be  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  the  latter  of 

whom  he  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  buy  over, 
The  first  ne  sen^  ^QQ  men  un(}er  Lieut.-Colonel  Smith, 

shot ;   battle 

of  Lexington,  at  eleven  o  clock  at  night,  April  18,  1775. 
fy^s.1  l8"19'  But  the  colonists  were  on  the  alert,  and 
before  long  Colonel  Smith  heard  the  bells  ring 
the  alarm  in  advance  of  him,  and  sent  back  for  reinforce 
ments,  throwing  out  also  a  detachment  in  advance.  At 
Lexington,  ten  miles  from  Boston,  the  advanced  guard 
thus  thrown  out  met  a  body  of '  minute-men/  who  refused 
to  disperse,  and  returned  a  few  shots  when  fired  upon. 
Concord  was  reached  at  7  A.M.,  but  only  part  of  the  arms 
and  ammunition  was  found  and  destroyed,  and  a  further 
skirmish  with  minute-men  took  place.  The  object  of  the 
expedition  being  as  far  as  possible  attained,  the  troops 
now  fell  back,  until  they  met,  eleven  miles  from  Boston,  a 
reinforcement  of  1,000  men.  This  long  skirmish  is  what 
is  called  the  battle  of  Lexington,  or  Concord,  and  is  con 
sidered  to  have  been  the  beginning  of  the  war.  The  re 
sults  of  it  were  on  the  whole  unfavourable  to  the  British, 
whose  sole  exploits  were  the  destruction  of  sixty  barrels 
of  powder  and  some  balls,  the  spiking  of  three  pieces  of 


1775-  First  Period.  105 

artillery,  and  the  burning  of  a  tree  of  liberty.  They  haa 
65  killed,  1 80  wounded,  and  lost  28  men  taken  prisoners  ; 
whilst  on  the  opposite  side  there  were  59  killed,  39 
wounded,  and  5  missing.  Above  all,  the  prestige  of  the 
British  regulars- was  dispelled.  Militiamen,  mere  armed 
peasants,  had  stood  up  to  them,  and  in  a  manner  pursued 
them.  Franklin  wrote  to  Burke  from  Philadelphia  (May 
15),  speaking  of  General  Gage  :  l  His  troops  made  a  most 
vigorous  retreat,  twenty  miles  in  three  hours — scarce  to 
be  paralleled  in  history — and  the  feeble  Americans,  who 
pelted  them  all  the  way,  could  scarce  keep  up  with  them.' 
The  whole  country  was  now  astir.  The  Provincial 
Congress  of  Massachusetts  resolved  that  no  obedience 
was  in  future  due  to  General  Gage,  but  that  The  whole 
'he  ought  to  be  considered  and  guarded  country 

astir ; 

against  as  an  unnatural  and  inveterate  foe  to  Boston 
the  country.'    Before  long  20,000  colonists  sur-  mvested 
rounded  Boston,  and  threatened  to  starve  out  the  British 
army.     Far  away  in  the  south,  on  receiving,  a  month 
later,  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  a  North  Caro 
lina  town  judged  the  time  come  for  independence,  ana 
declared  itself  freed  from  all  allegiance  to  the  king  ;  but 
this  was  going  a  little  too  fast  for  the  people  generally. 

The  first  blow  on  the  offensive  was  struck  by  Con 
necticut.     There  was  a  feud  of  some  standing  between 
New  York  and  the  settlers   in  the  northern  Surprise  of 
part  of  her  territory,  inhabiting  what  is  now  the  ^"May 
State  of  Vermont,  in  which  one  Ethan  Allen  *x 
led  the  *  Green   Mountain   Boys '  (as    the   Vermonters 
are    called).      To    Ethan    Allen    was    now    given    the 
command  of  a  force,  270  strong,  which  was  to  surprise 
the  fort   of  Ticonderoga,  on  Lake   Champlain.     There 
were  not  boats  enough  to  carry  them  all  over,  but  with 
his  officers  and  eighty-three  men  Allen  pushed  on,  sur 
prised  (May  10),  the  sleeping  garrison,  and  claimed  of  the 


to6      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

commandant  his  surrender  '  in  the  name  of  the  Great  Je 
hovah  and  the  Continental  Congress/  No  resistance  was 
possible,  and  without  the  loss  of  a  man  the  colonists 
obtained  a  fort,  122  cannon,  several  vessels,  and  a  con 
siderable  quantity  of  stores  and  powder.  Two  days  later 
another  post,  Crown  Point,  was  taken  without  resistance. 

The  Continental  Congress  met  for  its  second  session 
at  Philadelphia  on  the  day  (May  10),  when  Ethan  Allen 
Second  Con-  was  inv°kmg  its  authority  at  Ticonderoga. 
tinentaiCon-  Besides  Washington,  Thomas  Jefferson  and 
Continental  John  Adams,  two  future  presidents  of  the 
army  voted.  United  States,  were  among  the  members. 
Urged  by  Massachusetts  and  other  colonies,  the  Congress 
prepared  for  war,  voted  15,000  men  as  a  Continental 
army  (to  include  13,000  men  of  the  New  England  regi 
ments  encamped  before  Boston),  and  issued  bills  for 
2,000,000  dollars. 

Whilst  they  were  deliberating,  a  fleet  stood  into  Bos 
ton  (May  25),  with  2,000  men  on  board,  commanded  by 
General  Generals  Hall,  Clinton,  and  Burgoyne.  Gene- 
daSsPmar-  ra*  Gage,  on  June  I2?  proclaimed  martial  law, 
tiallaw;  offering,  however,  pardon  to  all  who  should 
commamier-  come  in,  Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock 
m-chief.  (formerly  president  of  the  Massachusetts  Pro 
vincial  Congress,  and  now  of  the  Continental  Congress) 
only  excepted.  The  proclamation  had  little  success,  and 
was  in  effect  answered  by  Congress,  through  the  unani 
mous  vote  by  which  it  appointed  George  Washington, 
of  Virginia,  commander- in-chief. 

Washington  was  now  forty-three  years  old  (born  1732) 
6  ft.  3  in.  in  height,  still  fond  of  athletic  sports  and  feats 
of  agility,  a  passionate  fox-hunter  and  duck- 
shooter.  His  handsome  and  open  good-natured 
countenance  (if  we  may  judge  from  his  portrait  taken  three 
years  before)  had  not  yet  been  stiffened  by  the  trials  of 


'775 


First  Period.  107 


command  into  the  severity  that  marks  his  later  busts  or 
portraits,  especially  about  the  lines  of  the  mouth.  He 
was  unquestionably  the  best  known  among  colonial 
officers.  After  his  services  in  Braddock's  campaign  he  had 
been  spoken  of  from  the  pulpit  by  an  eminent  preacher 
of  the  time,  as  '  that  heroic  youth,  Colonel  Washington, 
whom  I  cannot  but  hope  Providence  has  hitherto  pre 
served  in  so  signal  a  manner  for  some  important  service 
to  his  country/  He  had  served  his  apprenticeship  of 
command  during  five  years  of  warfare  (1753-8)  at  the  head 
of  the  Virginian  troops.  He  had  sat  for  fifteen  years  in 
the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses  (1759-1774),  always 
returned  by  large  majorities.  Punctual  in  his  attendance, 
studying  every  question,  he  seldom  spoke,  but  then  he 
spoke  clearly  and  firmly.  Naturally  quick-tempered,  he  had 
by  the  effort  of  a  strong  will  schooled  himself  to  a  studious 
moderation  both  in  language  and  conduct.  Elected  a 
delegate  to  the  first  Continental  Congress,  he  so  soon 
made  his  weight  felt,  that  Patrick  Henry,  whilst  naming 
Rutledge  of  South  Carolina  as  by  far  the  greatest  orator  in 
Congress,  declared  that, '  if  you  speak  of  solid  information 
and  sound  judgment,  Colonel  Washington  is  unquestion 
ably  the  greatest  man  on  that  floor.'  Appointed  comman 
der- in -chief,  he  refused  all  pay  for  his  services,  only  re 
serving  the  right  to  claim  reimbursement  of  his  expenses. 
Before  Washington  could  take  up  his  command,  a 
new  blow  had  been  struck  in  the  contest.  The  celebrated 
though  misnamed  battle  of  Bunker's  (now  Battle  of 
oftener  called  Bunker)  Hill,  had  been  fought  Igjfj™ 
(June  17).  Bunker's  or  Bunker  Hill  is  an  17, 1775.  ' 
eminence  1 10  feet  high,  near  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  on 
which  Cliarlestown  is  situated,  and  which  is  divided  from 
Boston  by  the  Charles  river.  Learning  that  General 
Gage  intended  to  occupy  and  fortify  it,  Colonel  Prescott 
with  1,000  men  was  sent  at  night  from  Cambridge,  the 


ro8       Tlie  War  of  American  Independence      A.D. 

head-quarters  of  the  colonists,  to  anticipate  the  British. 
But  they  mistook,  strange  to  say,  for  Bunker  Hill  another 
eminence  called  Breed's  Hill,  to  the  south  of  it,  standing 
nearer  to  Charlestown  and  Boston,  and  intrenched  them 
selves  there  before  the  morning.  The  eminence  com 
manded  the  British  camp,  and,  if  armed  with  batteries, 
would  have  compelled  the  evacuation  of  Boston.  When 
the  intrenchments  were  discovered,  3,000  regulars  were 
sent  to  attack  them,  under  Generals  Howe  and  Pigot. 
Instead  of  landing  at  the  isthmus  of  Charlestown  so  as 
to  take  the  Americans  in  the  rear,  the  troops,  covered 
by  the  fire  not  only  of  the  British  batteries  but  of  the 
deet,  marched  straight  up  the  hill.  Two  assaults  on 
the  intrenchments  failed,  but  General  Clinton  having 
joined  the  assailants  with  400  men,  a  third  was  made. 
The  Americans  had  exhausted  their  ammunition,  and 
Colonel  Prescott  ordered  a  retreat,  which  was  effected  in 
good  order,  and  though  only  one  piece  of  artillery  out  of 
six  could  be  carried  off,  they  encamped  at  Prospect  Hill, 
a  mile  from  the  battle-ground.  As  was  natural,  the  loss 
of  the  assailants  was  the  greater — 226  killed  and  828 
wounded  and  missing,  as  against  115  killed  and  337 
wounded  and  prisoners  on  the  American  side.  The 
battle  had  taken  place  in  sight  of  Boston,  whose  roofs 
and  steeples  were  crowded  with  spectators.  These, 
besides  the  battle  itself,  had  witnessed  a  sight  which  sank 
deep  into  the  hearts  of  the  American  people,  the  burning 
of  Charlestown  by  the  British  soldiers,  provoked,  it  is 
said,  by  their  having  been  fired  on  from  its  houses. 

On  the  day  of  the  battle  the  Congress  elected  four 
major-generals,  and  a  few  days  later  eight  brigadiers. 
Washington  Agents  with  presents  were  sent  to  the  Indians 
hL°°Elld;  to  obtain  their  neutrality.  Washington  (June 
ties.  21)  set  out  to  take  up  his  command,  meet 

ing  on  the  way  an  express  who  brought  tidings  of  the 


!  7  ?  -  First  Period.  \  09 

battle  of  Bunker's  Hill.  The  day  after  reaching  the  array 
he  issued  a  general  order,  reminding  his  forces  that '  they 
are  now  the  troops  of  the  United  Provinces  of  North 
America;'  expressing  the  hope  'that  all  distinctions  ol 
colonies  will  be  laid  aside,  so  that  one  and  the  same 
spirit  may  animate  the  whole,  and  the  only  contest  be, 
who  shall  render  on  this  great  and  trying  occasion  the 
mosi  essential  service  to  the  great  and  common  cause  in 
which  we  are  all  engaged.'  His  first  task  was  to  establish 
discipline.  Although  he  found  fewer  men  than  he  expected 
(16,000,  of  whom  only  14,000  were  fit  for  duty,  instead  of 
from  1 8,000  to  20,000),  the  forces  under  his  command  were 
far  larger  than  those  with  which  in  after  times  he  would 
have  to  keep  British  armies  in  check.  But  his  lines 
formed  a  semicircle  of  eight  or  nine  miles,  within  which  lay 
between  11,000  and  12,000  of  the  enemy,  who  commanded 
the  water  entirely.  The  officers  were  inefficient,  the  men 
insubordinate.  The  commander-in-chief  showed  himself 
strict  even  to  severity.  Frequent  courts  martial,  and  daily 
hard  work  upon  fortifications,  were  the  chief  means  by 
which  he  gradually  welded  into  an  army  a  crowd  of  men 
enlisted  for  short  periods  under  different  conditions,  which 
as  freeholders  or  freeholders'  sons  they  claimed  the  right  to 
construe  for  themselves.  The  lines  were  drawn  so  close 
round  Boston  that  the  British  and  American  sentries  could 
almost  have  spoken  together.  Frequent  raids  and  skir 
mishes  gradually  inured  the  provincials  to  war.  Yet  the 
situation  was  almost  desperate.  There  was  less  than  a  ton 
of  powder  for  the  whole  army,  making  about  nine  rounds 
per  man,  and  Washington  had  to  write  to  Rhode  Island, 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  for  every  pound 
of  powder  and  lead  that  could  be  spared.  '  No  quantity/ 
he  declared,  'however  small,  is  beneath  notice.'  By 
September  the  first  troops  enlisted  by  the  authority  of 
Congress,  twelve  companies  of  riflemen,  had  joined  the 


I  io       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.DI 

camp.  The  army  seemed  about  to  melt  away.  The  term 
of  service  of  the  contingents  of  Connecticut,  and  of  Rhode 
Island,  would  expire  on  December  i,  that  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  men  on  the  3ist.  The  paper  of  the  Congress 
was  being  daily  depreciated  in  value,  and  even  of  this  de 
preciated  paper  the  paymaster  had  not  a  dollar  in  hand. 
The  country  was  expecting  to  hear  of  the  occupation  of 
Boston,  and  it  would  have  been  madness  to  attack  it. 
At  length,  on  Washington's  urgent  representations  of  the 
seriousness  of  the  crisis,  a  committee  was  appointed  by 
Congress,  with  Franklin  at  their  head,  to  confer  with 
Washington  and  the  New  England  colonies.  A  scheme 
was  now  devised  for  raising  a  new  army  of  nearly  23,000 
men  (Oct.  1775). 

In  the  south  the  royal  authority  had  been  practically 

shaken   off.     The  governor  of  Virginia,  Lord  Dunmore, 

having  seized  on  the  powder  in  Williamsburg 

Proceedings  .       .  ,     ,  S 

in  the  south;  magazine,  was  compelled  to  pay  for  it,  and  the 
nSsgoner  amount  paid  was  transmitted  to  Congress, 
board  ship.  Soon  after  he  took  refuge  on  board  of  a  British 
vessel,  to  which  he  summoned  the  legislature  ;  they 
refused  to  come,  called  a  convention,  and  formed  a 
government.  The  governors  of  both  the  Carolinas  fol 
lowed  a  similar  course,  escaping  on  board  ship.  Thus, 
whilst  the  British  navy  commanded  the  sea  and  threat 
ened  the  coast,  the  Revolution  was  triumphant  on 
shore.  Walpole,  writing  to  his  friend  William  Mason,  a 
little  before  this  time  (Aug.  7),  thus  describes  the  situation 
with  somewhat  exaggerated  satire  :  '  Mrs.  Britannia  orders 
her  senate  to  proclaim  America  a  continent  of  cowards, 
and  vote  it  should  be  starved  unless  it  will  drink  tea  with 
her.  She  sends  her  only  army  to  be  besieged  in  one  of 
their  towns,  and  half  her  fleet  to  besiege  the  terra  fir  ma ; 
but  orders  her  army  to  do  nothing,  in  hopes  that  the 
American  senate  at  Philadelphia  will  be  so  frightened  at 


1775- 


Fzrst  Period.  T 1 1 


the  British  army  being  besieged  in  Boston  that  it  will  sue 
for  peace.  At  last  she  gives  her  army  leave  to  sally  out , 
but  being  twice  defeated  she  determines  to  carry  on  the 
war  so  vigorously  till  she  has  not  a  man  left,  that  all  Eng 
land  will  be  satisfied  with  the  total  loss  of  America.' 

Franklin  on  leaving  England  (April  1775),  m  Pavmg 
a  last  visit  to  Burke,  had  warned  him  that  sepa- 

.      '  , .  ,    Last  at- 

ration  was   inevitable.     Burke,  however,   did  tempts  at 
not  yet  agree  with  him  ;  and  there  was  indeed  byncoi,adon 
still  room  for  conciliation.     Richard  Penn,  late  gr.ess ; 

r   _.  .  •      T-       i       j  Richard 

governor  of  Pennsylvania,  was  in  England  as  penn  and 
the  bearer  of  what  is  known  as  the  Second  Bj.anchh'Ve 
Petition  of  Congress,  or  the  '  Olive  Branch/ 
adopted  after  Bunker's  Hill  (July  1775).  In  this  document 
the  colonists  offered  to  submit  to  every  enactment  of  par 
liament  up  to  1763,  including  the  Navigation  Acts  and  the 
Acts  for  regulating  trade,  on  condition  of  being  freed  from 
the  new  system  of  government.     Vergennes,  the  French 
minister,  deemed  it  impossible  that  such  terms  should  be 
refused.     The  French  ambassador,  De  Guines,  persisted 
in  thinking  the  contrary,  and  he  was  right. 

Penn  could  not  obtain  an  audience.     When  he  ap 
plied  for  an  answer  to  the  petition,  he  was  informed  that 
'no  answer  could  be  given.'     But  an  answer  pVOclama- 
was  given,  and  a  bitter  one,  exactly  ten  days  tion  against 

A        -TV         i  •      i    •      -r-  A  rebellion; 

after  Penn  s  arrival  in  England.     A  royal  pro-  application 
clamation   was   issued   (August   23),  for   sup-  p^ces^far 
pressing  rebellion   and   sedition.      Gage   was  troops, 
recalled,  his  command  being  divided  between  Sir  Guy 
Carleton  (afterwards  Lord  Dorchester),  in  the  north,  and 
Howe.     A  body  of  Hanoverians  were  enlisted.     German 
princes  were  ready  to  sell  their  subjects.     Applications 
were  made  to  Holland  and  to  Russia  for  the  loan  of  troops, 
but  were  refused. 

The  English  people  generally  hardly  understood  the 


112       The  War  of  American  Independence.     <V.D 

gravity  of  the  crisis.  There  were  those  who,  like  the 
The  English  Duke  of  Richmond,  looked  on  America  as  lost 
people  do  already,  but  could  comfort  themselves  with 
cLcThe6"  thinking  '  that  in  our  present  state  we  are  not 
fit  to  govern  ourselves,  and  much  less  distant 
provinces  ;  and  if  ours  emancipate,  it  will  at  least  be  some 
good  to  humanity  that  so  many  millions  of  brave  men 
should  be  free  and  happy.  (Duke  of  Richmond  to  Burke, 
June  1 6.)  Merchants,  sharing  the  same  conviction  that 
America  was  lost,  were  already  looking  to  the  Govern 
ment  for  an  indemnity.  (Burke  to  Rockingham,  Aug.  23.) 
Others  at  Bristol  saw  nothing  in  what  was  taking  place 
but  a  third  non-importation  agreement.  The  two  former 
ones,  they  said,  *  had  broken  up,  much  to  the  advantage 
of  the  merchants,  and  particularly  the  second.'  They  had 
then  had  ( a  demand  with  20  per  cent,  advance  on  every 
thing,  which  paid  them  amply  for  the  delay.'  They  had 
1  even  sold  at  that  advanced  price  goods  of  such  a  quality 
as  at  other  times  they  could  not  sell  at  any  price  at  all. 
(Burke  to  Rockingham,  Sept.  14.)  Why  should  they  be 
alarmed  ?  The  popular  idol,  Wilkes,  was  a  friend  to  the 
American  cause.  But  a  great  part  of  the  nation  was 
plunged  in  a  '  shocking  indifference  and  neutrality.' 
(Burke  to  Duke  of  Richmond,  Sept.  26.)  The  king  was 
full  of  confidence  ;  nothing  could  equal  his  '  ease,  compo 
sure,  and  even  gaiety.'  (Burke  to  Rockingham,  Aug.  4.) 
The  proclamation  had  been  hissed  on  the  Stock  Ex 
change,  but,  to  Lord  North's  surprise,  loyal  addresses 
began  to  come  in  from  the  country. 

Parliament  met    Oct.    26.      The   king's   speech   was 

violent,  charging  the  Americans  with  levying  a 

parikmei't;    rebellious  war  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 

Lord  George  an  independent  empire.     The  announcement 

Lrermam ; 

the  ministry    of  the  employment   of  Hanoverians   to   gar 
rison  Gibraltar  and  Minorca  afforded  a  strong 
ground  of  attack  to  the  Opposition,     Barre,  Charles  Fox, 


1775-  First  Period.  113 

and  General  Conway,  led  the  attack.  Fox  declared  that 
neither  Lord  Chatham,  the  King  of  Prussia,  nor  Alexander 
the  Great  had  gained  so  much  in  a  campaign  as  had 
been  lost  by  the  ministers.  In  the  Lords,  Lord  Shelburne 
strongly  condemned  the  ministerial  policy,  and  the  Duke 
of  Grafton,  still  Privy  Seal,  took  the  opportunity  of  an 
nouncing  his  disapproval  of  it,  which  he  soon  followed  up 
by  resignation.  The  American  department  was  trans 
ferred  to  Lord  George  Germain,  formerly  known  as  Lord 
George  Sackville,  who,  though  he  had  distinguished 
himself  at  Dettingen  and  Fontenoy,  had  misconducted 
himself  at  Minden,  and  had  been  cashiered  and  struck  off 
the  list  of  the  privy  council.  Loyal  addresses  poured  in 
more  and  more.  Everything  seemed  to  encourage  the 
king  and  his  ministers  in  their  present  policy  of  what 
Lord  Strafford  would  have  called  '  Thorough/ 

One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  the  new  session  enabled  the 
crown  to  call  out  and  embody  the  militia,  '  upon  occasion 
of  the  present  rebellion  in  America.'     It  was 
followed   by  the   Prohibition  of  Trade   Act,  Prohibition 
termed  by  Burke,  in  his  passionate  language,  Ac?  vttes 
the  '  most  wicked  and  sacrilegious  of  all  mea-  for  German 
sures,'  'to  prohibit  all  trade  and  intercourse 
with  the  colonies  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay, 
Rhode   Island,  Connecticut,    New    York,    New   Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,    the  three   lower   counties   on  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia;'  i.e.  with  the  whole  of  the  thirteen   colonies. 
When  the  bill  was   brought  in  (Nov.  10),  Lord  Mans 
field  spoke  of  it  as  '  passing  the  Rubicon/  but  crudely 
justified  the  measure  on  the  ground  that '  if  you  do  not 
kill  them  they  will  kill  you/    The  votes  of  the  session 
included  payments,  not  only  for  Hanoverian  troops,  but 
for  c  4,300  Brunswickers,'  a  '  regiment  of  foot  of  Hanau/  a 
*  regiment  of  Waldeck,'  the  '  artillery  of  the  Landgrave  of 

M .  H  \ 


114      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

Hesse-Cassel/  the  '  artillery  of  Hanau.'  On  the  other  hand 
a  step  was  taken  in  the  direction  of  conciliation.  In  the 
Prohibition  of  Trade  Act  itself  a  provision  was  inserted 
authorising  any  persons  named  by  the  Crown  to  grant 
pardons,  or  to  declare  any  colony  or  province,  county, 
port,  district,  or  place,  to  be  'at  the  peace  of  his  Majesty/ 
The  intention  of  this  provision,  which  was  shortly  after 
wards  carried  out,  was  to  appoint  royal  commissioners 
who  should  have  power  to  put  a  stop  to  the  war. 

In  America  the  king's  proclamation  against  rebellion 
was  received  (Nov.  i)  with  divided  feelings.  In  autho 
rising  New  Hampshire  and  South  Carolina  to  frame  new 
America  constitutions,  Congress  virtually  asserted  inde- 
receiveswith  pendence.  Pennsylvania,  on  the  other  hand, 
feelings  the  instructed  her  delegates  to  dissent  from  and 
agSiTre-T1  utterly  reject  any  propositions  which  might 
hellion.  cause  or  lead  to  a  separation  from  the 
mother-country,  or  a  change  in  the  form  of  government. 
New  Jersey  followed  the  example  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
her  influence  paralysed  Delaware  and  Maryland.  But 
rules  were  adopted  by  Congress  for  the  government  of 
the  American  navy.  Authority  was  given  for  enlisting 
two  battalions  of  marines,  for  seizing  ships  carrying  for 
the  British  army  or  navy,  and  for  appointing  tribunals  for 
their  confiscation. 

The  most  important  warlike  undertaking  on  the 
American  side  during  the  autumn  was  the  invasion  of 
The  invasion  Canada,  a  measure  of  which  the  Congress  had 
Montn-adaby  in  June  expressly  disclaimed  the  intention, 
gomery.  Of  all  the  enterprises  of  the  war,  this  was  the 
most  gallant  and  the  most  fruitless.  The  command  was 
given  to  Brigadier-General  Montgomery,  an  English 
officer  who  had  joined  the  American  standard,  and  a 
gentleman  of  chivalrous  bravery.  He  had  served  in 
the  Seven  Years  War,  had  been  a  comrade  of  Colonel 


1775-  First  Period.  \  \  5 

Barre^  one  of  the  Opposition  leaders  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  had  also  been  with  Wolfe  at  the  taking  ol 
Quebec.  Everything  at  first  favoured  the  invaders.  The 
French,  and  even  the  Indians,  showed  themselves  friendly, 
and  many  of  the  former  joined  the  Americans.  Although 
an  unauthorised  attempt  by  Ethan  Allen  to  repeat  upon 
Montreal  his  surprise  of  Ticonderoga  failed,  that  city, 
after  the  reduction  of  Fort  St.  John,  was  occupied  without 
resistance  (Nov.  12).  Here  Montgomery's  difficulties 
began — difficulties  such  as  every  other  American  com 
mander  after  him  would  have  to  grapple  with.  The  bulk 
of  his  soldiers  had  enlisted  only  for  a  few  months  ;  their 
time  was  up,  and  they  insisted  upon  returning  home. 

Meanwhile,  from  the  border  of  Maine,  a  man  of  very 
different    stamp    from     Montgomery,    but    of    reckless 
courage,  Benedict  Arnold,  formerly  a  horse-  Arnold- 
dealer,  was  pushing  towards  Quebec.     He  had  the  failure 

J          i_    j    T_      TTT      i_-  f  v-  before  Quo- 

been  detached  by  Washington  from  his  army  bee  (Dec. 
(Sept.  u),  with  about  1,100  men.  The  diffi-  31,1775). 
culties  of  the  march  were  extreme.  The  second  in  com 
mand  deserted  with  three  companies  ;  the  invaders  had 
to  eat  not  only  their  last  ox,  but  their  last  dog,  then  to 
feed  on  roots  and  moose-skin  moccasins,  and  were 
two  days  altogether  without  food.  By  the  time  Arnold 
reached  the  walls  of  Quebec,  he  had  but  900  barefoot 
and  ragged  men, — too  few  to  attempt  anything.  When 
Montgomery  joined  him  in  December,  he  could  only 
bring  300  more,  so  that  the  combined  American  forces 
made  up  less  than  1,000  men,  besides  200  Canadian 
volunteers.  With  this  small  force  an  insanely  heroic 
attempt  was  made,  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  to 
storm  '  the  strongest  fortified  city  in  America,  defended 
by  more  than  200  cannon  of  heavy  metal,  and  a  garrison 
of  twice  the  number  of  the  besiegers.'  It  failed  of  course  : 
Montgomery  was  killed,  and  more  than  a  third  of  the 
i* 


Il6     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

American  force  were  taken  prisoners.  But  Arnold  re 
mained  encamped  outside  the  walls  with  the  fragments  of 
the  army,  declaring  that  he  would  not  leave  the  place  till 
he  entered  it  in  triumph,  but  asking  for  10,000  men,  whom 
he  was  little  likely  to  get,  to  achieve  his  triumph. 

The  new  year  did  not  open  more  auspiciously  for  the 
American  cause  than  the  old  year  had  closed.  There  had 
been  some  hostilities  in  the  south,  in  South  Carolina 
and  Virginia.  Dunmore,  the  governor  of  Virginia,  of 
whom  Washington  wrote  (Dec.  26),  that  if  he  were  not 
'  crushed  before  spring/  he  would  prove  '  the  most  for 
midable  enemy  of  America/  issued  a  procla- 

LordDun-  .    .     \  j       ^r     • 

moreinVir-  mation  declaring  martial  law,  and  offering 
fofk^burnt*  Pard°n  to  <  all  indented  servants,  negroes,  or 
(Jan.  i,  others,  appertaining  to  rebels/  if  they  would 
American6  join  him.  Driven  out  of  Norfolk  on  New  Year's 
flag<  day,  he  cannonaded  and  burnt  it,  as  Gage  had 

cannonaded  and  burnt  Falmouth  six  weeks  before. 
Measures  like  these  stirred  far  and  wide  among  the 
Americans  feelings  of  hatred  towards  the  mother-country, 
and  longings  for  revenge.  On  the  same  New  Year's 
day  (1776)  on  which  Norfolk  was  burnt,  the  American 
flag  was  first  unfurled,  having  no  stars  as  yet,  but  with 
thirteen  stripes  of  alternate  red  and  white,  the  crosses  of 
St,  George  and  St.  Andrew  being  still  retained  on  a  blue 
ground  in  the  corner.  The  Congress  had  in  the  previous 
month  voted  the  building  of  thirteen  ships  of  war. 

Washington  was  still  before  Boston,  struggling  always 
against  the  difficulties  of  short  enlistments,  insufficient 
Washing-  ammunition,  and  want  of  money ;  credited  with 
cuhfef^"  an  armv  °f  20J°°0  menj  and  actually  in  com- 
continue.  mand  of  less  than  half  that  number.  The  Con 
necticut  men  were  especially  unruly,  and  many  would  not 
even  wait  the  expiration  of  enlistment  to  return  home.  The 
same  desire  of  *  retiring  into  a  chimney  corner '  as  Wash- 


1776.  First  Period.  117 

ington  graphically  expressed  it, '  seized  the  troops  of  New 
Hampshire,  Rhode  Island,  and  Massachusetts,  so  soon  as 
their  time  expired.'  In  vain  did  Congress  authorise  him 
to  attack  Boston,  even  at  the  risk  of  destroying  the 
town  ;  he  had  not  more  powder  than  was  absolutely 
necessary  to  defend  the  lines  if  attacked  (Dec.  4,  1775), 
and  he  durst  not  say  so.  *  Search  the  volumes  of 
history  through/  he  wrote  to  a  friend,  'and  I  much 
question  whether  a  case  similar  to  ours  can  be  found  ; 
namely,  to  maintain  a  post  against  the  flower  of  the 
British  troops  for  six  months  together,  without  powder, 
and  then  to  have  one  army  disbanded  and  another  to  be 
raised  within  the  same  distance  of  a  reinforced  enemy.  It 
is  too  much  to  attempt/  If  he  should  be  able  to  rise  su 
perior  to  his  difficulties,  he  wrote  to  the  same  correspon 
dent  '  I  shall  most  religiously  believe  that  the  hand  of 
Providence  is  in  it  to  blind  the  eyes  of  our  enemies/  About 
three  weeks  later  he  had  nearly  2,000  men  in  camp  with 
out  firelocks  (Feb.  9).  Still  he  had  come  by  this  time  in 
his  slow  way  to  a  conviction  which  would  be  worth  many 
victories  to  America,  that  independence  must  be  declared. 
His  patient  toil  was  at  last  rewarded.  On  March  4 
he  succeeded  in  one  night  in  occupying  and  in 
trenching  Dorchester  heights,  which  com-  Boston 
manded  the  city  and  harbour  of  Boston.  A  tTacuuted> 

J  March 

violent  storm  prevented  an  early  assault  by  1776. 
the  British,  whilst  the  lines  of  the  Americans  were 
pushed  forwards;  and  on  the  I7th  General  Howe  with 
the  British  troops  evacuated  Boston,  which  was  at  once 
taken  possession  of,  the  main  body  of  the  Americans  en 
tering  on  the  2oth.  The  British  fleet  remained  ten  days 
longer  in  the  harbour  or  in  the  roads,  but  attempted 
nothing  further.  New  England  was  from  henceforth 
substantially  free. 

Congress,  which  some  months  before  had  authorised 


Il8      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.IX 

Washington  to  employ  armed  vessels  (the  crews  of  which 
.  seem  to  have  been  even  a  greater  trouble  to 

Measures  of       . 

Congress ;  him  than  his  own  soldiers),  now  took  the  bold 
agains'tdae  steP  °f  authorising  privateers  to  cruise,  but 
;  against  the  ships  of  Great  Britain  only,  and  not 
of  Ireland  (March  23).  A  still  more  important 
resolution — the  result  probably  in  great  measure  of  Go 
vernor  Dunmore's  offer  of  freedom  to  the  slaves— was  one 
against  the  import  of  slaves  'into  any  of  the  thirteen 
united  colonies.'  Last  of  all,  on  April  6,  the  trade  of  the 
colonies  was  thrown  open  to  all  the  world  l  not  subject  to 
the  King  of  Great  Britain/  a  step  which  must  be  con 
sidered  to  have  been  the  virtual  death-blow  to  the  old 
colonial  system  throughout  the  world,  as  well  as,  what 
Mr.  Bancroft  calls  it,  'a  virtual  declaration  of  indepen 
dence.7  The  commercial  interests  of  the  world  at  large 
were  henceforth  engaged  in  the  struggle  on  behalf  of 
the  revolted  colonies. 

Already  a  '  committee  of  secret  correspondence '  had 
appointed  Silas  Deane,  an  ex-schoolmaster, '  commercial 
America  commissioner  and  agent/  to  solicit  from  France 
secretly  clothing  and  arms  for  25,000  men,  100  field- 
Franceyand  pieces,  and  ammunition.  But  long  before  his 
Spam.  arrival,  the  question  of  aiding  the  Americans 

was  being  discussed  in  the  French  cabinet.  On  the  very 
day  when  the  colonial  trade  was  thrown  open  (April  6),  the 
far-sighted  and  benevolent  Turgot  signed  a  memorandum 
in  which,  whilst  insisting  that  nothing  could  arrest  the 
course  of  events  which  sooner  or  later  would  '  certainly 
bring  about  the  absolute  independence  of  the  English 
colonies,  and,  as  an  inevitable  consequence,  effect  a  total 
revolution  in  the  relations  of  Europe  and  America/  he 
yet  deprecated  any  measures  of  aid  tending  to  involve 
France,  still  less  Spain,  in  the  war.  But  the  spirit  of 
intrigue  was  strong  among  French  diplomatists,  and 


i  776  First  Period. 

there  was  money  to  be  gathered  by  fingering  co;, tracts. 
Vergennes,  the  French  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was 
strongly  in  favour  of  aiding  the  Americans.  Turgot  was 
overruled.  In  May,  Louis  XVI.  announced  to  the  King 
of  Spain  that  he  was  about  to  advance  a  million  of  French 
livres  to  the  Americans.  The  King  of  Spain,  '  assigning 
a  false  reason  at  his  own  treasury  for  demanding  the 
money/  sent  a  million  more.  The  chiet  go-between  in 
the  matter  had  been  a  wondrously  clever  jack-of-all- 
trades,  the  watch-maker,  musician,  playwright,  financier, 
Beaumarchais,  the  creator  of  that  personage  of  Figaro, 
whose  name  is  now  naturalised  in  every  European 
language. 

From  this  time  to  that  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence  (July  4,  1776),  the  dissolution  of  the  old  fabric  of 
colonial  government  proceeds  apace.  South 

_         ,.  _  1-..1-,  .        .         f      •       -,f  Dissolution 

Carolina  had  established  a  constitution  for  itself  of  the  old 
as  early  as   March   26.      In   North  Carolina  ~J^S; 
the  Chief  Justice,  in  his  opening  charge  to  the  Declaration 

,.  ,,,          i  ,   ,         ~  TTT      oflndepen- 

grand  jury,  declared  to  them  'that  George  III.,  dence  pro- 
King  of  Great  Britain,  has  abdicated  the  go-  posed 
vernment,  that  he  has  no  authority  over  us,  and  we  owe 
no  obedience  to  him.'  The  General  Assembly  of  Rhode 
Island  (May  4)  discharged  the  inhabitants  of  the  colony 
from  allegiance  to  the  king.  The  Virginia  House  of  Bur 
gesses,  on  the  ground  that  the  ancient  constitution  of  the 
colony  had  been  subverted  by  the  king  and  parliament, 
dissolved  itself  (May  6).  A  convention  of  delegates 
which  assembled  the  same  day  instructed  the  representa 
tives  of  Virginia  in  congress  to  propose  that  the  United 
Colonies  be  declared  '  free  and  independent  States,  ab 
solved  from  all  allegiance  or  dependence  upon  the  crown 
or  parliament  of  Great  Britain'  (May  15);  and  issued 
(June  12),  a  celebrated  declaration  of  rights,  which  became 
substantially  the  foundation  of  the  still  more  celebrated 


I2O     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

Declaration  of  Independence.  Meanwhile  ihe  Congress 
had  adopted  a  resolution  proposed  by  John  Adams,  for 
allowing  the  colonies  to  frame  their  own  governments, 
with  a  preamble  that  it  was  '  absolutely  irreconcilable  with 
reason  and  good  conscience '  for  the  people  of  the  colonies 
to  bear  allegiance  to  l  any  government  under  the  crown  of 
Great  Britain/  and  that  it  was  necessary  that  the  exercise 
of  every  kind  of  government  under  the  crown  should 
be  totally  suppressed.  On  June  7  Richard  Henry  Lee, 
on  the  part  of  Virginia,  proposed,  and  John  Adams 
seconded,  a  resolution  declaring  the  independence  of 
the  United  Colonies,  the  expediency  of  forming  foreign 
alliances,  and  of  framing  a  plan  of  confederation.  The 
two  latter  portions  of  the  proposal  were  at  once  assented 
to,  and  committees  appointed  for  carrying  them  into  effect ; 
the  consideration  of  the  first  was  postponed  for  three 
weeks,  but  a  committee  was  also  appointed  for  drawing 
up  a  declaration  to  the  effect  proposed. 

Whilst  the  committees  are  sitting,  let  us  cast  a  glance 
at  military  events.  Perhaps  that  which  most  affected 
British  at-  men's  minds  was  the  attempt  of  a  British  fleet 
tack  on  Fort  ancj  troops  upon  Charleston,  and  the  cannon- 
American'  ade,  though  by  the  fleet  alone  (June  28),  of  a 
cSaVtL  fort  on  Sullivan's  Island,  since  known  as  Fort 
retreat.  Moultrie,  in  honour  of  the  gallant  and  success 
ful  resistance  of  its  commander.  One  of  the  frigates  which 
had  run  aground  had  to  be  deserted  and  set  on  fire,  and 
the  total  British  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  205,  as 
against  37  on  the  American  side.  This  success,  small 
as  it  was,  served  to  make  up  for  the  disastrous  results  of 
tne  expedition  to  Canada,  where,  as  before  mentioned, 
Arnold,  after  Montgomery's  death,  had  been  left  before 
Quebec  with  a  few  hundred  men.  Of  the  10,000  men 
asked  for  by  Arnold,  only  1,500  had  reached  Montreal  by 
the  middle  of  March.  The  general  in  chief  command, 


4776.  First  Period.  121 

Wooster,  was  aged  and  inefficient;  he  had  as  usual  neither 
money  nor  supplies ;  the  peasantry  were  irritated  by  requisi 
tions  ;  the  population,  at  first  favourably  disposed  towards 
the  invaders,  soon  became  hostile  almost  to  a  man,  and  a 
party  of  Canadians  attempted,  though  unsuccessfully,  to 
raise  the  blockade  of  Quebec.  In  vain  by  the  orders 
of  Congress  did  Washington  send  more  than  3,000 
men  as  reinforcements  from  the  continental  army. 
Smallpox  broke  out,  a  retreat  was  ordered,  which  a 
sally  turned  into  a  rout,  and  although  the  Congress  still 
made  further  efforts  to  send  more  men,  the  remnants  of 
the  army,  which  in  little  more  than  two  months  had  lost 
by  desertion  and  death  more  than  5,000  men,  had  to  fall 
back  within  the  American  frontier  in  a  most  pitiable  con 
dition,  so  that  an  eyewitness  declared  that  he  did  not  look 
into  a  tent  or  a  hut  in  which  he  did  not  find  '  either  a 
dead  or  a  dying  man'  (early  days  of  July  1776). 

Not  long  after  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  Washington 
had  removed  his  head-quarters  to  New  York  (April  13), 
which  it  was  supposed  would  be  the  object  of  Washington 
the  next  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  English,  as  at  New 

,        0,  .    .        ,  T          v  °—      .         Yorkjmise- 

the  State  contained  many  Loyalists  or  Tories,  rabie  state 
and  the  late  Governor  Tryon  (who  like  several  of  the  army, 
of  his  fellows  had  taken  refuge  on  board  ship),  was  able, 
active,  and  influential.  Washington  began  by  inducing  the 
New  York  Committee  of  Safety  to  prohibit  all  intercourse 
with  the  king's  ships,  and  then  proceeded  to  fortify  the 
town  and  the  Hudson  river.  But  the  condition  of  Wash 
ington's  army  itself,  notwithstanding  his  late  success,  was 
most  precarious.  On  April  28  the  whole  number  of  rank 
and  file,  present  and  fit  for  duty,  was  only  8,101.  On 
June  12  it  was  only  6,749,  all  under  temporary  engage 
ments.  Many  men  were  without  arms ;  '  one  regiment 
had  only  97  firelocks  and  7  bayonets ; '  the  artillery  con 
sisted  of  only  one  regiment  and  one  company.  Conspi- 


1 22      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

racy  even  existed,  in  which  some  of  Washington's  own 
guard  were  involved,  and  one  of  them  was  hanged  aftei 
conviction  by  court  martial  in  the  presence  of  20,000 
persons.  This  was  the  first  military  execution  of  the  war 
(June  28).  Towards  the  end  of  June  Congress  authorised 
enlistments  for  three  years  or  for  the  war. 

On  June  29  Washington  informed  the  Congress  that 
General  Howe,  who  with  Lord  Howe  had  received  a  joint 
Arrival  of  a    commission  under  the  conciliatory  provisions' 
British  fleet,  of  the  Prohibition  of  Trade  Act,  had  arrived  at 

and  of  royal     r<        i      T  T      i        •  i    r  r           i  •  i 

commis-  Sandy  Hook  with  forty-five  ships  or  more,  the 
sioners.  rest  of  tne  fleet  being  expected  in  a  day  or  two. 
Thirty  thousand  men  were  supposed  to  be  on  board. 
Joseph  Reed,  Washington's  adjutant-general,  deemed  the 
odds  hopeless,  and  declared  that  had  he  known  the  real 
position  of  affairs,  no  consideration  would  have  tempted  him 
to  take  part  in  them.  A  few  months  before  (March  15), 
the  same  officer  had  written  to  Washington  that  he  was 
4  infinitely  more  afraid '  of  the  British  commissioners  *  than 
of  their  generals  and  armies.' 

It  was  under  these  circumstances,  when  most  of  the 
separate  colonies  had  by  this  time  passed  resolutions  in 
TheDecia-  its  favour,  that  the  Congress  adopted  the 
dependence^  famous  Declaration  of  Independence,  penned 
July  4, 1776.  by  Thomas  Jefferson  of  Virginia.  It  declared 
as  self-evident  truths  that  all  men  are  created  equal; 
that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain 
inalienable  rights,  among  which  are  *  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness;  that  to  secure  these  rights 
governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  when 
ever  any  form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of 
these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to 
abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new  government.'  It  enume 
rated  a  long  string  of  acts  with  which  the  King  of  Great 


£776.  First  Period.  123 

Britain  was  charged,  *  all  having  in  direct  object  the  esta 
blishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny  over  these  States ;'  as 
for  instance,  '  He  has  abdicated  government  here  by  de 
claring  us  out  of  his  protection,  and  waging  war  against 
us ;  he  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts,  burnt 
our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  people ;  he  is  at 
this  time  transporting  large  armies  of  foreign  mercenaries 
to  complete  the  works  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny 
already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  perfidy 
scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally 
unworthy  the  head  of  a  civilised  nation ;  he  has  con 
strained  our  fellow  citizens,  taken  captive  on  the  high  seas, 
to  bear  arms  against  their  country,  to  become  the  execu 
tioners  of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves 
by  their  hands ;  he  has  created  domestic  insurrections 
amongst  us,  and  has  endeavoured  to  bring  on  the  inhabi 
tants  of  our  frontiers  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose 
known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of 
all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions.'  It  recounted  the  petitions 
for  redress  which  had  been  presented,  the  appeals  to  the 
'  native  justice  and  magnanimity*  of  <  our  British  brethren/ 
who  had  been  '  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  consan 
guinity/  and  concluded  as  follows  : — 

'  We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  in  General  Congress  assembledj  appealing  to 
the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do,  in  the  name  and  by  the  authority  of  the 
good  people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly  publish  and 
declare  that  the  United  Colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  free  and  independent  States  ;  that  they  are  absolved 
from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that  all  poli 
tical  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of  Great 
Britain  is  and  ought  to  be  totally  dissolved  ;  and  that,  as 
free  and  independent  States,  they  have  full  power  to  levy 
war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  com-- 


124      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

merce,  and  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  independent 
States  may  of  right  do.  And  for  the  support  of  this  de 
claration,  with  a  firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine 
Providence,  we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  lives, 
our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honour/ 

Only  one  important  paragraph  had  been  struck  out  of 
Jefferson's  draft— one  charging  upon  the  king  the  guilt  of 
A  ara  ah  ^  s^ave  trac^e>  which  it  characterised  as  a 
relating  to  ( cruel  war  against  human  nature  itself ; '  and 
thaeVS7vend  speaking  of  the  recent  offers  of  freedom  to  the 
trade  struck  negroes  as  the  '  paying  off  former  crimes  com 
mitted  against  the  liberties  of  one  people  with 
crimes  which  he  urges  them  to  commit  against  the 
lives  of  another.' 

Reading  it  at  the  present  day,  we  can  see  how  the 

passionate  and  declamatory  rhetoric  of  the  Declaration 

of  Independence  has  left  its  stain  to  this  hour 

Declama-  P  , 

tory  charac-  on  most  of  the  political  writing  and  oratory 
Dedication ;  °*  America,  and  may  wish  that  the  birth  of  a 
its  unfair-  great  nation  had  not  been  screamed  into  the 
world  after  this  fashion.  Nothing  would  have 
been  easier  than,  in  the  like  rhetorical  language,  to  draw  up  a 
list  of  the  various  acts  of  lawlessness  and  outrage  committed 
by  the  colonists.  Some  of  the  charges  will  not  bear  ex 
amination.  For  instance,  the  aid  of  the  Indians  had  been 
willingly  accepted  by  the  colonists  in  the  Canadian  ex 
pedition  since  September  1775  ;  the  general  question  of 
their  employment  had  been  considered  by  Washington  in 
conference  with  a  committee  of  Congress  and  delegates  of 
the  New  England  governments  in  October  of  the  same 
year,  and  the  main  objection  which  Washington  and  other 
officers  urged  against  it,  as  shown  by  a  letter  of  his  to 
General  Schuyler,  January  27,  1776,  and  the  answer  from 
the  latter,  was  that  of  expense.  He  had  nevertheless 
(April  19)  advised  Congress  %  to  engage  them  on  our  side,'' 


1776.  First  Period.  125 

as  *  they  must,  and  no  doubt  soon  will,  take  an  active 
part  either  for  or  against  us  ; '  and  Congress  itself  had, 
on  June  3 — not  a  month  before  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence  was  actually  accepted — passed  a  resolution  to 
raise  2,000  Indians  for  the  Canada  service,  which  shortly 
afterwards  was  extended  by  another  (referred  to  in  a 
letter  of  Washington's  of  June  20)  authorising  General 
Washington  to  employ  such  Indians  as  he  should  take 
into  the  service,  in  any  place  where  he  might  think  that 
they  would  be  most  useful,  and  to  offer  them  bounties — not 
indeed  for  scalps,  but  for  every  officer  and  soldier  of  the 
king's  troops  whom  they  might  capture  in  the  Indian  coun 
try,  or  on  the  frontiers  of  the  colonies.  When  all  this  had 
been  done,  it  needed  the  forgetfulness  and  the  blind 
hypocrisy  of  passion  to  denounce  the  king  to  the  world 
for  having  ( endeavoured  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants 
of  our  frontiers-the  merciless  Indian  savages  ; '  yet  the 
American  people  have  never  had  the  self-respect  to  erase 
this  charge  from  a  document  generally  printed  in  the 
forefront  of  their  constitution  and  laws,  and  with  which 
every  schoolboy  is  sedulously  made  familiar.  Perhaps 
indeed  it  would  have  been  otherwise,  had  not  the  charge 
been  one  which  circumstances  appeared  to  confirm.  For 
in  fact,  owing  to  causes  already  indicated,  the  Americans 
never  could  make  friends  of  the  Indians  in  the  contest, 
and  consequently  the  *  merciless  savages ;  continue  in 
history  to  figure  on  the  side  of  the  British.  Who  could 
wonder  at  it  ?  At  the  date  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence,  the  Indian  child  had  only  just  reached  man's 
estate,  who  in  the  year  of  his  birth  might  have  escaped 
being  a  victim  to  the  bounty  of  2o/.  held  out  for  the  scalp 
of  every  Indian  woman  and  child  by  Massachusetts  in  1 755, 
whilst  one  of  4o/.  had  been  offered  for  that  of  his  father, 
raised  in  1756  to  300^.  It  did  not  require  the  retentive 
memory  of  the  redskin  to  make  him  look  with  suspicion 


126      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

on  solicitations  to  friendship  from  men  who  might  have 
been  parties  to  such  schemes  of  extermination  to  his 
race. 

But  Jefferson's  violent  pamphlet  should  in  fact  be 
looked  upon  less  as  a  declaration  of  independence  than 
as  a  declaration  of  war — less  as  an  assertion  of  right  than 
TheDe-  as  a  cry  of  defiance,  uttered  in  an  hour  of 

flctaoi°enofn  &*VQ  Peril> in  the  face  of  a  formidable  foe.  The 
war.  spirit  in  which  it  was  adopted  is  well  indicated 

in  some  words  of  Joseph  Reed's  :  'I  have  no  notion  of 
being  hanged  for  half  treason.  When  a  subject  draws 
his  sword  against  his  prince,  he  must  cut  his  way 
through.'  Viewed  in  the  light  of  attendant  circumstances, 
the  declaration  itself,  and  the  practical  unanimity  with 
which  it  was  adopted  (by  twelve  States  out  of  thirteen, 
New  York  alone  abstaining)  became  heroic. 

But  it  would  be  entirely  dwarfing  the  importance  of 
the  declaration  to  consider  it  with  reference  to  America 
its  influence  al°ne*  Through  the  general  principles  which 
on  foreign  it  put  forth,  it  appealed  to  all  peoples  that 
should  deem  themselves  oppressed,  and  be 
came  as  it  were  the  charter  of  revolution  throughout 
the  world.  The  French  declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man 
flows  directly  from  it.  It  virtually  cost  Louis  XVI.  his 
head,  as  well  as  half  a  continent  to  George  III.  ^J/ 

Throughout  the  revolted  colonies  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  received  with  unbounded  enthusiasm, 
its  enthu-  Its  adoption  was  rung  out  to  Philadelphia  from 
tioninrecep"  the  great  bel1  of  Independence  Hall,  which  bore 
America.  for  motto  (  Liberty  throughout  the  land  to  all 
the  inhabitants  thereof/  and  the  royal  arms  were  brought 
from  the  State  House  and  burned  publicly.  In  Virginia 
an  act  was  passed  to  substitute  the  Commonwealth  for 
the  king  in  the  liturgy.  At  New  York  the  leaden  statue 
of  George  III.  was  pulled  down  and  cast  into  bullets, 


i776.  first  Period.  12? 

On  the  evening  of  the  day  when  he  received  the  decla 
ration,  Washington  had  the  troops  paraded,  and  each 
division  listened  bareheaded  whilst  it  was  being  read 

(July  9)- 

Nevertheless,  few  saw  the  truth  that  the  independence  of 
the  States  must  be  a  dream  unless  based  upon  their  union. 
A  draft  of  confederation  was  brought  into  The  need  of 
Congress  by  John  Dickinson  of  Pennsylvania  J^S^fch 
on  July  12.  So  feeble  was  the  sort  of  union  Postpone- 
proposed,  that  all  power  of  taxation  was  to  be  pian  of  con- 
withheld  from  the  '  United  States  assembled,'  fe<*erati°n- 
except  for  postage.  Yet  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina,  in 
language  characteristic  of  his  State,  treated  the  plan  as 
'  destroying  all  provincial  distinctions,  and  making  every 
thing  of  the  most  minute  kind  bend  to  what  they  call  the 
good  of  the  whole/  and  thus  in  fact  saying  '  that  these 
colonies  must  be  subject  to  the  government  of  the  eastern 
provinces,'  the  force  of  whose  arms  he  held  '  exceedingly 
cheap,'  while  he  dreaded  '  their  low  cunning,  and  those 
levelling  principles  which  men  without  character  and  with 
out  fortune  in  general  possess.'  The  whole  secession  war 
of  our  days  is  prefigured  in  these  words.  As  it  was, 
Congress  only  deliberated  on  the  plan,  and  then  postponed 
it.  Meanwhile,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
signed  (Aug.  2)  by  every  member  of  Congress. 

Dark  days  were  at  hand.  On  July  8  General  Howe 
landed  9,000  men  on  Staten  Island.  On  the  1 2th,  part 
of  Lord  Howe's  fleet  stood  in,  and  two  men 

....  ,  .,     ,  ,       TT     ,     The  royal 

ot  war  with  their  tenders  sailed  up  the  Hud-  comnus- 
son,  passed  the  batteries  of  New  York  unin-  waslifn^ton 
jured,  took  soundings,  and  returned.     Before  New  York 
proceeding    to    hostilities    Lord    Howe    sent  threatenedt 
ashore  a  proclamation  promising  pardon  to  all  who  should 
come  in.     Washington  forwarded  it  to  Congress,  which 
Caused  it  to  be  published.    Attempts  were  even  made  to 


128      The  War  of  American  Independence. 

communicate  with  Washington,  by  letters  directed  to 
( George  Washington,  Esq./  or  ( George  Washington, 
&c.,  &c. ; '  but  he  refused  to  receive  any  that  did  not 
recognise  him  as  commander  of  the  American  army. 
Before  hostilities  began,  some  weeks  more  elapsed,  during 
which  the  English  received  further  reinforcements,  making 
up  their  forces  to  about  24,000  men,  besides  the  fleet,  whilst 
Washington  strengthened  the  fortifications  of  New  York. 
Many  of  the  king's  troops  were  Hessians  and  other 
foreigners ;  and — perhaps  as  a  set-off  to  Lord  Howe's 
proclamation  of  pardon — resolutions  of  Congress  were 
circulated  offering  citizenship  and  bounties  in  land  to  all 
foreigners  who  should  leave  the  British  service  (Aug.  14,27). 
The  city  of  New  York,  divided  on  the  west  from 
the  coast  of  New  Jersey  by  the  Hudson  river,  a  channel 
Battle  of  of  which,  further  south,  called  the  Narrows, 
ASgL^f '  separates  Staten  Island  from  Long  Island, 
1776.  is  itself  divided  on  the  east  from  the  latter 

by  East  River,  a  ferry  over  which  connects  it  with 
the  village,  now  suburb,  of  Brooklyn.  Here  General 
Putnam  had  his  camp,  and  in  front  of  it  were  9,000 
Americans  under  General  Sullivan  and  General  Stirling 
(commonly  called  Lord  Stirling,  though  his  claim  to  the 
title  had  been  rejected  by  the  House  of  Lords).  Wash 
ington  remained  in  New  York  with  a  garrison  already  too 
small  for  its  defence.  On  August  22  the  British  under 
Sir  H.  Clinton  crossed  from  Staten  Island,  10,000  strong, 
to  the  south  of  Long  Island,  which  was  undefended,  and 
in  three  divisions  advanced  through  the  island.  An 
important  road,  which  led  to  the  rear  of  the  American 
position,  called  the  Jamaica  road,  had  been  left  open.  In 
the  engagements  which  ensued  (August  27)  the  Americans 
found  themselves  surrounded;  both  their  generals  were 
taken  prisoners,  with  1,076  men  (including  some  militia 
taken  after  the  action),  and  their  total  loss  was  1,650, 


1776.  First  Period.  129 

against  379  on  the  British  side,  of  whom  94  were  killed  and 
missing.  Washington  crossed  from  New  York  during 
lie  battle,  but  could  only  save  the  remnant  of  the  army. 
General  Howe  did  not  attack  the  fort  on  Brooklyn 
Heights  till  the  next  day,  and  a  heavy  fog  interrupted 
hostilities.  On  the  night  of  Aug.  29-30  Washington 
succeeded  in  embarking  the  whole  army  for  New  York, 
but  the  heavy  artillery  had  to  be  left  behind.  The  loss 
of  the  battle  of  Long  Island  is  ascribed  partly  to  the  ill 
ness  of  General  Greene,  who  had  superintended  the  works 
and  knew  the  ground  thoroughly,  whilst  his  hastily  ap 
pointed  successor,  General  Putnam,  knew  neither.  In 
fact  it  appears  that  during  the  engagement  no  one  officer 
was  actually  in  command. 

Worse  than  the  defeat  of  Long  Island  were  its  effects. 
1  Our  situation/  wrote  Washington  to  Congress  (Sept.  2), 
'is  truly  distressing.     The  check  our  detach-  Discourage 
ment  sustained  on  the  2;th  ultimo   has   dis-  £o"psoft 
pirited  too  great  a  proportion  of  our  troops,  Washing- 
and  filled  their  minds  with  apprehension  and  t^dSpe- 
despair.    The  militia  are  dismayed,  intractable,  mle> 
and  impatient  to  return.     Great  numbers  of  them  have 
gone  off;  in  some  instances  almost  by  whole  regiments, 

by  half-ones,  and  by  companies  at  a  time Their  want 

of  discipline,  and  refusal  of  almost  every  kind  of  restraint 
and  government,  have  produced  a  like  conduct  but  too 
common  to  the  whole,  and  an  entire  disregard  of  that 
order  and  subordination  necessary  to  the  well-doing  of  an 

army 1  am  obliged  to  confess  my  want  of  confidence 

in  the  generality  of  the  troops/  He  was  convinced,  he 
went  on  to  say,  that  no  dependence  could  be  put  in  a 
militia,  and  '  that  our  liberties  must  of  necessity  be  gieatly 
hazarded  if  not  entirely  lost,  if  their  defence  is  left  to  any 
but  a  permanent  standing  army,  I  mean  one  to  exist  during 
the  war.'  On  September  8  the  Connecticut  militia  had 

M.  H.  K 


130     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A. a 

become  reduced  in  a  few  days  from  6,000  men  to  less  than 
2,000.  At  least  one-fourth  of  the  army  were  sick.  Pay  was 
two  months  in  arrear,  and  the  military  chest  was  empty. 

Admiral  Howe,  after  the  battle,  had  anchored  with  the 
fleet   in   New  York  harbour,  within  cannon  shot  of  the 

city.  On  September  n  a  fruitless  conference 
place Gcon-  with  a  view  to  peace  took  place  on  Staten 
Newark  Island,  between  Lord  Howe,  Franklin,  Rut- 
evacuated  ledge,  and  John  Adams.  But  hostilities  were 

not  suspended.  On  September  13  some  of 
Lord  Howe's  ships  sailed  up  East  River,  and  began  can 
nonading.  Two  days  later  a  large  body  of  troops  was 
disembarked,  and  the  Americans  were  so  demoralised 
that  eight  regiments  left  their  lines  without  firing  a  shot  on 
the  approach  of  seventy  men  of  the  British.  Washington 
tried  in  vain  to  check  their  flight,  threatening  them  with 
sword  and  pistol,  and  in  endeavouring  to  set  them  an 
example  he  rode  so  near  to  the  enemy  that  he  had  to  be 
forced  away  by  an  aide-de-camp.  Fearing  to  be  again 
taken  in  the  rear,  Washington,  supported  by  the  great 
majority  of  a  council  of  war,  now  ordered  the  evacuation 
of  the  city.  Greene,  probably  the  ablest  commander 
after  Washington,  had  been  foremost  in  urging  evacua 
tion,  and — to  use  his  own  words— the  Americans  made 
a  ( miserable,  disorderly  retreat/  losing  a  considerable 
part  of  their  baggage,  and  leaving  behind  most  of  their 
heavy  cannon  and  part  of  their  stores  and  provisions 
(Sept.  1 5).  Washington  encamped  with  the  main  body 
of  his  forces  on  Haarlem  Heights,  on  the  neck  of  land 
forming  the  northern  end  of  New  York  (or  Manhattan) 
Island,  which  he  proceeded  to  fortify  ;  a  fort  called  Fort 
Washington,  in  particular,  was  constructed  on  a  rocky 
height  overlooking  the  Hudson.  Meanwhile  General  (now 
Sir  William)  Howe,  sending  a  detachment  to  occupy  New 
York  (in  which  a  fire  broke  out  five  days  later,  and  de- 


T776.  First  Period.  1 3 1 

stroyed  about  a  tenth  part  of  the  city),  encamped  ir. 
front  of  the  American  lines.  A  successful  skirmish 
between  advanced  parties  of  both  armies  somewhat  in 
spirited  the  American  troops. 

At  the  urgent  entreaty  of  Washington,  who  declared 
success  impossible  unless  the  military  system  was  changed 
(Sept.  24),  Congress  now  ordered  a  new  army  congress 
of  eighty-eight  battalions  to  be  raised,  which  raises  a  new 
was  to  serve  throughout  the  war,  bounties  both  se™e  during 
of  money  and  land  being  offered  to  soldiers  and  the  war* 
officers.  Yet  the  plan  thus  entered  upon  seemed  likely  to 
defeat  itself.  The  States  in  turn  offered  additional 
bounties,  particular  towns  higher  bounties  still,  and  in 
this  competition  for  soldiers  men  began  to  hang  back  for 
the  sake  of  obtaining  better  terms,  whilst  the  different 
conditions  of  enlistment  produced  jealousies  and  bicker 
ings.  The  different  States  quarrelled  about  the  appoint 
ments,  without  regard  to  the  qualifications  of  officers, 
and  nominated,  to  use  Washington's  words,  such  as  were 
'not  fit  to  be  shoeblacks,  from  the  local  attachments  of 
this  or  that  member  of  Assembly.3 

Sir  William  Howe  was  not  sleeping  on  his  laurels. 
He  sent  up  the  Hudson  two  ships,  which  cut  off  Wash 
ington's  communications  by  water,  and  moved 
up  himself  to  the  north-east  of  Washington's  Howe's  ad- 
camp,  in  order  to  take  him  in  the  rear.     The  FS?Wash- 
Haarlem  Heights  lines  now  became  untenable,  ington  taken 

,     ,         -        &          .  ,  .  .     ,  '   (Nov.  16). 

and  leaving — against  his  own  judgment— a 
strong  garrison  at  Fort  Washington,  Washington  with 
drew  northwards  to  White  Plains,  and  again,  after  an 
engagement  (October  28),  in  which  the  Americans  had  to 
fall  back,  to  the  heights  of  North  Castle.  Howe  now  fell 
back,  and  Washington  profited  by  the  occasion  to  cross  the 
Hudson  with  part  of  his  army,  at  the  only  place  left  free 
by  (he  British  ships,  and  took  up  his  position  at  Fort  Lee, 


132      Tfie  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

opposite  Fort  Washington,  in  order  to  cover  Philadelphia. 
But  from  this  spot  again  he  had  to  witness  disaster. 
Fort  Washington  was  attacked  (November  16)  from  foui 
points  at  once  by  a  large  force,  the  ammunition  failed 
and  after  a  few  hours'  defence  the  fort  surrendered,  with 
2,818  men,  besides  artillery,  arms,  and  ammunition  ;  the 
British  had,  however,  lost  nearly  1,000  men  in  killed  and 
wounded  in  the  action.  Washington,  it  is  said,  cried  like 
a  child  at  seeing  the  slaughter  of  his  men,  whom  he  could 
not  relieve. 

Three  days  later,  6,000  British  troops  under  Lord 
Cornwallis  crossed  the  Hudson  above  Fort  Lee,  which 
Washing-  Washington  had  to  evacuate  in  haste,  leaving 
ton's  retreat  a  large  booty  behind.  All  the  troops  he  had 
New1  Jersey ;  with  him  were  only  about  3,000  men,  without 
island  re-  tentsj  baggage,  or  entrenching  tools,  many  of 
covered  by  them  without  shoes.  With  these  he  had  to 
result" o? the  retreat  across  New  Jersey,  the  inhabitants  of 
campaign.  wnich,  as  he  afterwards  wrote,  '  either  from 
fear  or  disaffection,  almost  to  a  man,  refused  to  turn 
out '  to  his  aid.  He  was  pursued  so  closely  by  Lord 
Cornwallis  that  the  advance  guard  of  the  latter  entered 
Newark  before  the  American  rear-guard  had  left  it. 
Having  crossed  the  Delaware  into  Pennsylvania  he 
sent  one  of  his  generals  to  represent  in  person  to  the 
Congress  the  weakness  of  the  army  and  its  need  of 
early  succour.  Fortunately  perhaps  for  the  American 
cause,  Lord  Cornwallis  did  not  attempt  to  cross  the  river. 
Sir  Guy  Carleton,  meanwhile,  had  from  Canada  'occu 
pied  Crown  Point  (October),  and  Sir  H.  Clinton,  with 
a  detachment  of  6,000  men  from  New  York,  had  re 
covered  Rhode  Island  (Dec.  6).  The  result  of  the  cam 
paign  of  1776  was  to  leave  nearly  2,000  more  Ameri 
can  prisoners  in  British  hands,  than  British  in  American 
(4,854  against  2,860) ;  and  among  the  captured  Americans 
were  304  officers,  whilst  there  were  not  more  than  50 


1 776.  First  Period.  \  3  3 

among  the  British,  a  pretty  clear  proof  that  the  American 
rank  and  file  were  not  to  be  depended  on. 

In  England  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had  been 
generally  received  with  indignation.  Parliament  met  on 
October  31.  There  was  much  abuse  of  America,  indignation 
and  though  Wilkes,  Barre*,  and  Fox  spoke  Engfa^cfby 
energetically  on  an  amendment  to  the  address  the  Deciara- 

T        i    T   i         /-  i«  •          •         •  Uon  of  Inde- 

by  Lord  John  Cavendish,  their  minority  was  pendence ; 
only  87  to  128,  whilst  in  the  Lords  an  amend-  pSgJfj0ifn 
ment  of  Lord  Rockingham's  obtained  only  26  the  Painter, 
votes,  and  from  this  time  he  and  his  party  pointedly  kept 
aloof  from  public  business.  The  warnings  of  Fox  and 
Barre'  as  to  an  impending  war  with  France  were  treated 
with  scorn  by  the  ministers.  But  the  king  himself  was 
anxious  as  to  this  danger.  He  had  ground  for  being  so. 
On  December  21  Franklin  reached  Paris,  where  his  fame 
as  a  man  of  science  had  long  preceded  him.  In  his  plain 
brown  coat  and  powderless  grey  hair  he  took  the  streets 
and  the  drawing-rooms  alike  by  storm.  Before  the  year 
closed  he  had  already  obtained  permission  to  bring 
American  prizes  into  both  Ff ench  and  Spanish  ports,  and 
initiated  negotiations  for  a  treaty.  An  attempt  to  fire 
Portsmouth  dockyard  by  a  man  named  James  Aitken, 
nicknamed  John  the  Painter,  created  considerable  alarm 
just  before  this  period  (Dec.  6).  It  was  said  that  there  was 
a  plot  to  destroy  all  the  English  dockyards,  and  that  Silas 
Deane,  American  commissioner  in  Paris,  was  privy  to  it. 
The  incendiary  was  hanged  a  few  months  later. 

It  was  in  America  that  the  American  cause  looked 
worst.     To  the  bulk  of  mankind,  success  always  implies 
genius,   and  disaster  incapacity.      Loud   was  Outcry  in 
the  outcry  against  Washington  after  his  late  ^™* 
reverses.     Some  of  the  officers  nearest  to  his  Washington. 
person  lost  their  trust  in  him.     Having  to  open  Lee?  Let's 
in    their   absence    all    official   letters    to    his  cap*™*- 
generals,  he  opened  one  day  a  letter  (dated  Nov.  24,  1776) 


134     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

addressed  to  his  own  secretary  and  confidential  friend, 
Colonel  Joseph  Reed.  The  writer  was  General  Lee,  who 
had  been  left  east  of  the  Hudson — in  his  own  opinion, 
and  in  that  of  many,  the  rightful  claimant  to  the  command 
in  chief.  The  letter  contained  the  following  passage  : 
'  I  lament  with  you  that  fatal  indecision  of  mind  which 
in  war  is  a  much  greater  disqualification  than  stupidity 
or  even  want  of  personal  courage.  Accident  may  put  a 
decisive  blunderer  in  the  right,  but  eternal  defeat  and  mis 
carriage  must  attend  the  man  of  the  best  parts  if  cursed 
with  indecision.  To  confess  the  truth,  I  really  think  our 
chief  will  do  better  with  me  than  without  me/  Washington 
inclosed  the  letter  to  Reed,  magnanimously  excusing  him 
self  for  having  seen  it,  as  '  having  no  idea  of  its  being  a 
private  letter,  much  less  suspecting  the  tendency  of  the 
correpondence/and  did  not  even  seek  to  remove  Reed  from 
his  secretaryship ;  the  latter,  however,  soon  retired  from 
the  army.  Yet  a  singular  retribution  was  at  hand.  Lee, 
after  disobeying  for  a  long  time  Washington's  orders  and 
disregarding  his  entreaties  to  cross  the  Hudson  into  New 
Jersey,  and  even  seeking  to  draw  away  2,000  men  from 
another  division  of  the  army,  in  the  hope  of  making  a  dash 
on  New  York,  was  captured  at  night  by  a  British  scouting 
party.  General  Sullivan  (the  prisoner  of  Long  Island, 
who  had  some  time  since  been  exchanged)  succeeded  to 
his  command,  and  promptly  joined  Washington,  who  by 
this  means,  and  through  the  receipt  of  other  reinforce 
ments,  had  soon  5,000  men  under  him. 

The  situation  was  none  the  less  most  serious.  The 
Disaffection  British  had  Rhode  Island  and  nearly  all  New 
in  Pennsyi-  Jersey;  Pennsylvania  was  threatened,  and  Con- 
Washing  gress  withdrew  to  Baltimore.  So  little  public 
ran'SnSua°~  sP^r^  was  there  m  Pennsylvania  that  the 
dictatorship,  militia  not  only  refused  to  obey  the  summons 
of  the  Council  of  Safety  and  that  of  their  commanding 


1776.  First  Period.  135 

officers,  but  exulted  at  the  approach  of  the  British  and 
the  late  misfortunes  of  the  Americans.  Washington 
had  to  urge  the  prudence  of  disarming  them.  To  his 
brother  he  went  so  far  as  to  write,  c  If  every  nerve  is  not 
strained  to  recruit  the  new  army  with  all  possible  expedi 
tion,  I  think  the  game  is  pretty  nearly  up'  (December  18). 
Still,  he  was  so  persuaded  of  the  justice  of  the  cause  that 
he  could  not  entertain  an  idea  that  it  would  '  finally  sink.' 

To  its  credit  be  it  said,  Congress  lost  neither  heart 
nor  yet  trust  in  the  commander  of  its  choice,  but  invested 
Washington  with  a  temporary  military  dictatorship,  re 
solving  that,  until  otherwise  ordered,  General  Washington 
should  '  be  possessed  of  all  power  to  order  and  direct  all 
things  relative  to  the  department  and  to  the  operations  of 
war'  (December  12).  The  measures  taken  for  obtaining 
more  permanent  forces  were  already  beginning  to  tell ; 
but  Washington  at  once  began  to  raise  more  troops,  in 
cluding  a  corps  of  engineers,  and  promised  increased  pay 
to  soldiers  re-engaging. 

And  now  this  'indecisive'  commander  showed  what 
stuff  he  was  made  of.  The  British  were  ready  to  cros? 
into  Pennsylvania,  and  indeed  were  only  wait-  The  surprise 
ing  till  the  Delaware  was  frozen  over.  On  of  Trenton, 

December 

Christmas  night,  1776,  though  the  number  of  25, 1776. 
his  forces  was  less  than  he  'had  any  conception  of  (the 
adjutant-general's  return  of  December  22  only  gave  4,707 
rank  and  file  present  and  fit  for  duty),  Washington  him 
self,  with  2,400  men  and  twenty  pieces  of  artillery,  crossed 
the  river,  swollen  with  floating  ice,  into  New  Jersey,  sur 
prised  Trenton,  where  there  were  1,500  Hessians  with  a 
body  of  English  cavalry,  took  a  thousand  prisoners,  a 
thousand  stand  of  arms,  and  six  field-pieces,  and  re- 
crossed  the  Delaware  with  prisoners  and  booty,  leaving 
the  Hessian  commander  mortally  wounded,  with  six  of 
his  officers  and  between  thirty  and  forty  of  his  men  killed 


136      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

whilst  the  Americans  had  only  lost  four  men,  of  whom  two 
were  frozen  to  death. 

The  British  having  fallen  back  to  Princeton,  Washing 
ton  again  crossed  the  Delaware,  and  established  himself 
The  battle  of  at  Trenton.  But  Lord  Cornwallis,  at  the 
January11'  moment  of  embarking  for  England  had  been 
/777 ;  New  ordered  back  by  Sir  W.  Howe  to  New  Jersey, 
nearly  re-  and  soon  came  up  with  overwhelming  forces, 
covered.  Washington  now  tried  to  surprise  Princeton, 
and  would  have  entirely  succeeded  but  for  his  meeting  a 
British  brigade  marching  to  Trenton.  In  the  engagement 
which  followed,  known  as  the  battle  of  Princeton,  January 
13,  1777,  the  American  advanced  troops  at  first  gave 
way,  but  were  rallied  by  Washington,  and  the  result  was 
a  loss  of  400  on  the  British  side,  and  about  one  quarter 
that  number  on  the  American.  Cornwallis  was  sub 
stantially  outmanoeuvred.  Washington  went  into  winter 
quarters  at  Morristown,  raised  by  authority  of  Congress 
sixteen  more  battalions  of  regular  troops,  and  so  harassed 
the  British  that  at  last  they  retained  two  posts  only  in  New 
Jersey.  Even  from  these  they  withdrew  after  a  few  months 
(July),  General  Howe  having  vainly  endeavoured  to  tempt 
Washington  to  a  general  engagement. 

Yet  in  spite  of  all  measures  for  increasing  the  army, 
Washington's  forces  were  always  slipping  through  his 
Washing-  hands.  We  find  him  writing  on  January  26 : 
ton's  winter  <  The  enemy  must  be  ignorant  of  our  numbers, 
snSiipox65 :  or  they  have  not  horses  to  move  their  artillery, 
disastrous.  or  ^gy  woui(i  not  suffer  us  to  remain  undis 
turbed/  On  February  20:  'At  this  time  we  are  only 
about  4,000  strong/  On  March  14  the  whole  force  fit  for 
duty  in  New  Jersey  was  under  3,000,  all  except  981  militia 
engaged  only  till  the  last  of  the  month.  Smallpox  raged 
terribly.  Vaccination  had  not  yet  been  thought  of,  and 
inoculation — a  practice  now  penal — was  the  only  available 


1 776.  First  Period.  1 3  ^ 

remedy.  The  number  under  inoculation,  with  their  at 
tendants,  was  about  1,000.  Apprehension  of  the  smallpox 
greatly  retarded  enlistments  (April  13).  Pay  was  as  usual 
in  arrear,  and  the  desertions  were  *  amazing '  (April  27). 
Indeed  Washington  wrote,  as  late  as  June  i,  that  the 
numbers  of  his  troops  diminished  more  by  desertions  than 
they  increased  by  enlistments.  It  was  under  such  diffi 
culties  that  Washington  gradually  pressed  back  the  British 
troops  towards  New  York. 

It  is  right  to  say,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  ravages 
exercised  by  the  British  troops  in  New  Jersey,  where 
'Tories'  and  'Whigs'  were  plundered  alike,  The  ravages 
roused  a  feeling  against  them  which  all  the  ^alienate 
appeals  of  Washington  and  of  Congress  had  the  people, 
failed  to  call  forth.  By  July  4  we  find  Washington 
writing  that  the  spirit  with  which  the  militia  of  New  Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  had  turned  out  lately  on  the  alarm  of  a 
movement  of  General  Howe's,  had  'far  exceeded'  his 
*  most  sanguine  expectations.' 

Strange  to  say,  one  of  the  difficulties  of  Washington 
and  of  the  Congress  at  this  period  arose  from  the  sym 
pathies  which  the  American  cause  was  begin-  Foreign 
ning  to  excite  in  Europe,  or  perhaps,  to  speak  ^become 
more  correctly,  the  attraction  which  the  war  a  difficulty, 
offered  to  unquiet  spirits  while  peace  prevailed  in  the 
Old  World.  The  American  commissioners  in  Paris  were 
lavish  in  promises  of  commissions,  and  for  a  time  Con 
gress  was  generous  in  fulfilling  those  promises.  We  find 
Washington  (May  17),  asking  almost  angrily  of  his 
friend  Richard  Henry  Lee  of  Virginia,  what  Congress 
expects  him  to  do  '  with  the  many  foreigners  they  have  at 
different  times  promoted  to  the  rank  of  field  officers,  and 
by  the  last  resolve,  two  to  that  of  colonels.'  Eventually  it 
came  to  this,  that  a  French  officer  named  Ducoudray 
came  out  with  the  promise,  not  only  of  a  major-general- 


138      The  War  oj  A  merican  Independence*      A.D. 

ship,  but  of  the  command  of  the  whole  artillery.  So 
disgusted  were  the  American  officers  at  this,  that  three 
generals— Greene,  Sullivan,  and  Knox — wrote  to  Congress 
threatening  to  resign  if  he  were  appointed.  They  were 
reprimanded  ;  but  the  promise  made  by  Commissioner 
Deane  was  not  ratified. 

Many  of  the  new-comers  were  no  doubt  adventurers, 
but  not  all.  A  young  French  officer  of  eighteen,  the 
The  Marquis  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  afterwards  the  General 
etetet  Kos-  Lafayette  of  two  French  revolutions,  being  on 
ciusko.  military  duty  at  Metz,  was  present  at  a  dinner 
(17?6)>  given  by  his  commandant  to  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  brother  to  George  III.,  then  passing  through 
the  city.  The  Duke  had  just  received  despatches  from 
England  relating  to  American  matters,  and  referring  to 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  La  Fayette  listened, 
asked  questions  of  the  royal  guest,  took  fire  for  the 
American  cause,  and  resolved  from  that  hour  to  devote 
himself  to  it.  He  went  to  Paris,  sought  out  Silas  Deane 
the  American  commissioner,  who  promised  him  a  major- 
generalship,  with  a  passage  on  board  a  ship  which  was  to 
be  sent  out  with  arms  and  supplies  for  the  Americans.  But 
when  the  news  came  of  Washington's  flight  from  New 
Jersey,  the  credit  of  the  insurgents  fell  so  low  that  no 
ship  could  be  had,  and  Americans  even  dissuaded  the 
young  Frenchman  from  going  out.  Instead  of  being 
daunted  by  such  tidings,  he  bought  and  equipped  a  ship 
for  himself,  and  undertook  to  carry  despatches  for  Wash 
ington.  His  own  Government  as  well  as  the  English  one 
sought  to  intercept  him — the  story  of  his  escape  is  a  ro 
mance  in  itself — but  he  got  away  through  Spain  in  safety, 
and  eventually  landed  near  Georgetown  in  South  Caro 
lina.  Among  twelve  officers,  his  companions,  was  the 
veteran  De  Kalb,  whom  Choiseul  had  sent  ten  or  twelve 
years  before  as  secret  agent  to  America.  On  his  arrival 


1777- 


First  Period.  139 


at  Philadelphia,  La  Fayette's  application  for  employment 
was  at  first  coolly  received ;  but  when  he  wrote  that  his 
conditions  were  that  he  should  serve  without  pay  as  a 
volunteer,  the  marked  difference  of  such  terms  from  those 
demanded  by  others  procured  attention  to  him.  A  captain 
of  dragoons,  although  not  yet  twenty,  La  Fayette  received 
(July  31)  a  major-general's  commission,  and  soon  became 
intimate  with  Washington,  towards  whom  he  conceived  an 
enthusiastic  attachment.  Another  foreign  officer  who  did 
good  service  to  the  American  cause  from  this  period  was 
the  young  Polish  engineer  Kosciuszko.  In  the  same  month 
of  July  the  national  flag — 'the  stars  and  stripes' — was 
adopted  by  Congress  ;  and  we  may  also  mention  the  bold 
capture  in  Rhode  Island  of  the  English  general  Prescott, 
by  an  American  party ;  a  kind  of  set-off  to  that  of  Lee 
by  the  English. 

In  England,  George  III.  and  his  ministers  were  carry 
ing  all  before  them,  although  an  adversary,  whom  they 
had  not  had  to  reckon  with  for  some  time  now, 

^  Lord  Chat- 

again   confronted   them.     On  May   30,    1777,  ham's  re- 
Lord    Chatham,  who  for  two  years  had   not  expSSfon'' 
been  present  at  the  House  of  Lords,  appeared  from  Canada 

.      .  .        .  ,,  11-01       decided  on. 

in  his  place,  a  gouty  figure  swathed  in  flannels. 
He  urged  peace  with  America,  before  France  and 
Spain  became  parties  to  the  war.  '  You  cannot/  he  ex 
claimed,  '  conquer  the  Americans.  I  might  as  well 
talk  of  driving  them  before  me  with  this  crutch/  His 
motion  was  rejected  by  99  votes  to  28.  Yet  it  was 
difficult  to  obtain  troops.  Only  3,252  men  were  sent 
in  the  course  of  the  year  to  America  from  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  and  726  to  Canada  ;  nor  could  more  than 
3,596  be  obtained  from  Germany.  Much  reliance  was 
however  placed  upon  the  American  loyalists,  and  upon 
the  Indians.  To  give  the  largest  scope  to  the  services  of 
the  latter,  an  expedition  from  Canada  was  planned,  the 


140      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

command  of  which  was  given  to  General  Burgoyne,  a 
famous  wit  and  man  of  fashion,  author  of  a  successful 
comic  opera  and  comedy. 

With  3,724  British  soldiers,  3,016  Germans,  250 
provincials,  473  artillerists,  besides  Indian  auxiliaries, 
Burgoyne's  Burgoyne,  having  left  Crown  Point  on  July  I, 
fi?s?sniicecess-  moyed  up  Lake  Champlain,  intending  to  effect 
ful-  a  junction  with  the  southern  army  undei 

Howe.  The  expedition  was  at  first  successful.  Ticonde- 
roga  was  evacuated  without  striking  a  blow,  through  the 
erection  of  batteries  on  a  height  deemed  inaccessible, 
which  commanded  the  fort  (July  6).  The  British  came 
up  with  the  rear-guard  of  the  retreating  corps,  and  de 
feated  it  with  a  loss  of  about  400  in  killed  and  prisoners, 
took  Skenesborough  and  the  stores  collected  there,  com 
pelled  the  evacuation  of  Fort  Edward  on  the  Hudson 
(July  30),  invested  Fort  Schuyler  on  the  Mohawk,  and 
defeated  with  great  loss  a  body  of  militia  which  were 
marching  to  relieve  it.  But  now  the  tide  turned. 

The  Americans  had  large  supplies  at  Bennington,  in 
New  Hampshire  :  Burgoyne  sent  a  party  to  surprise  the 
Battle  of  place,  under  Colonel  Baum.  The  latter  finding 

st?™'  strong  intrenchments,  halted,  and  sent  word  to 
1777-  ~"  his  commander-in-chief.  Before  reinforcements 
could  reach  him,  he  was  attacked  in  his  own  intrench 
ments  and  defeated  by  General  Stark,  who  was  marching 
with  a  militia  force  to  join  General  Schuyler,  the  American 
commander.  The  reinforcements,  which  joined  too  late, 
were  in  turn  defeated,  and  the  result  of  the  two  engage 
ments  (Aug.  1 6), — known  as  the  battle  of  Bennington — 
was  a  loss  to  the  British  of  207  killed,  about  600  prisoners, 
4  cannon,  and  1,000  stand  of  arms,  the  Americans 
losing  only  200  in  killed  and  wounded.  Colonel  St. 
Leger,  who  was  investing  Fort  Schuyler  with  New  York 
loyalists  (or  ' Tories')  and  Indians,  fled  in  a  panic  to 
Canada,  leaving  tents,  artillery,  and  much  baggage  behind, 


1777- 


First  Period.  141 


Three  days  after  the  battle  of  Bennington,  General 
Schuyler  had  been  superseded  in  favour  of  General  Gates, 
an  Englishman  born,  who  had  served  in  the  French 
and  Indian  wars,  and  had  been  wounded  at  Braddock's 
defeat.  Great  pains  were  taken  to  strengthen  him,  and 
reinforcements  were  sent  to  him  from  Washington's 
army,  which,  as  the  event  even  now  proved,  was  ill  able 
to  spare  them. 

Washington  meanwhile,  with  enfeebled  and  now 
vastly  inferior  forces,  was  holding  Howe  in  check,  whilst 
eluding  any  general  engagement.  At  last  Battle  of 
Howe  put  to  sea  with  about  18,000  men,  I£j?.d5]™' 
leaving  Clinton  with  a  strong  force  at  New  1777. 
York,  and  after  keeping  the  Americans  for  about  three 
weeks  in  doubt  as  to  his  destination,  entered  Chesapeake 
Bay  the  day  after  a  council  of  war  had  unanimously  de 
cided  that  he  must  have  sailed  for  Charlestown,  and 
landed  on  the  Elk  river,  about  fifty  miles  from  Philadel 
phia.  Washington  marched  to  meet  him  with  about 
14,000  men,  of  whom  only  about  8,000  were  fit  for  ser 
vice.  The  battle  took  place  on  Brandywine  Creek 
(Sept.  11,  1777),  and  the  Americans  were  defeated,  with  a 
loss  of  300  killed,  600  wounded,  and  nearly  400  prisoners, 
besides  7  or  8  pieces  of  cannon,  as  against  90  killed,  and 
500  wounded  or  missing,  on  the  British  side.  La  Fayette 
was  wounded.  Another  foreign  volunteer,  the  Polish 
Count  Pulaski,  also  distinguished  himself  in  the  action, 
and  was  made  a  brigadier-general. 

Having  received  reinforcements,  Washington  again 
offered  battle  a  few  days  later,  but  a  violent  storm  stopped 
the  contest  and  injured  his  ammunition.  He  ^\^\^&\  ^ 
was  obliged  to  retreat.  A  skilful  movement  occupied  by 

c     i         T,   •  •  i          i«ii  11-  -,.         l"e  British, 

oi  the   British,  which  threatened  his  supplies,  Sept.  26; 

through  a  part  of  the  country  from  which  he  Garman- 

could  not  derive,  as  he  wrote  to  Congress,  the  town>  Oct-  4- 

least  intelligence,  the  inhabitants,  f  being  to  a  man,  dis- 


142     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D 

affected/  compelled  him  to  leave  open  the  road  to  Phila 
delphia.  General  Wayne,  who  was  left  to  check  the  advance 
with  1,500  men,  was  surprised  and  defeated,  and  on  the 
26th  the  British  entered  Philadelphia,  from  whence  Con 
gress  had  adjourned  to  the  town  of  Lancaster.  Eighl 
days  later,  a  surprise  of  a  British  division  at  German- 
town  seemed  likely  to  prove  a  great  success  (Oct.  4),  but  a 
thick  fog  arose,  the  American  ammunition  failed,  the 
British  rallied,  and  the  assailants  fled  in  panic  with  a  loss 
of  1,000  men.  Four  days  later  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  from 
New  York,  carried  by  storm  Forts  Montgomery  and  Clin 
ton  on  the  Hudson  river,  two  American  frigates  being  also 
destroyed.  An  attack  on  the  Delaware  forts  indeed  failed 
in  the  first  instance  (Oct.  22),  but  even  here  matters  looked 
so  threatening  that,  by  Washington's  advice,  some  frigates 
which  were  being  built  on  the  Delaware  river  were  sunk. 
A  few  weeks  later  the  forts,  after  a  stubborn  defence, 
were  evacuated  (Nov.  15-20).  Washington  withdrew  to 
White  Marsh,  fourteen  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and 
from  thence,  after  an  attempted  surprise  by  Howe,  into 
winter  quarters  at  Valley  Forge,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Schuylkill,  about  twenty-two  miles  from  the  city. 

Of  course  the  outcry  was  greater  than  ever  against  a 
Renewed  commander  so  seldom  successful,  so  often 
against  defeated.  Just  now  the  clamour  was  inten- 
washington.  sifted  by  the  brilliant  successes  of  Gates  in 
the  north. 

Despite  the  defeat  at  Bennington  and  the  failure 
before  Fort  Schuyler,  Burgoyne  had  still  pressed  on.  On 
The  battles  September  14  he  crossed  the  Hudson  and  en- 
Sept!1!^3161"'  camped  at  Saratoga,  thence  marched  slowly 
Oct.  7.  along  the  Hudson  till  he  met  the  Americans 
encamped  at  Stillwater  or  Bemis's  (alias  Behmus's) 
heights  (Sept.  19),  within  lines  planned  by  Kosciuszko. 
The  battle  continued  till  nightfall,  when  the  Americans 


1777-  First  Period.  143 

withdrew  to  their  camp;  but  the  British  loss  was  the 
greater,  500  to  over  319.  Burgoyne's  Indian  allies  and 
many  of  the  loyalist  volunteers  now  deserted  him.  What 
remained  of  his  army  was  on  half-rations  ;  his  horses 
were  without  forage.  Meanwhile  Gates  was  daily  re 
ceiving  reinforcements.  On  October  7  Burgoyne  again 
engaged  the  Americans.  The  fight  was  so  fierce  that  one 
gun  was  taken  and  retaken  five  times.  Benedict  Arnold, 
who  had  already  been  the  hero  of  the  previous  battle,  but 
who  had  been  deprived  of  his  command  by  the  jealousy 
of  Gates,  resumed  it  under  fire  in  spite  of  the  tetter's 
orders,  and  only  left  the  field  when  wounded  in  the  leg. 
General  Frazer,  the  most  brilliant  of  the  English  officers, 
was  killed ;  and  though  again  night  only  separated  the 
combatants,  the  British  loss  was  far  greater  than  the 
American, — 700  as  against  about  1 50. 

Eurgoyne  fell  back  to  Saratoga,  and  was  about  to 
withdraw  to  Fort  Edward,  when  he  learnt  that  it  was  in 
the  enemy's  hands.  He  was  surrounded,  his  Burgoyne's 
men  were  starving,  and  only  3,500  of  them  s^toga**' 
were  fit  to  fight,  whilst  the  enemy  were  not  less  Oct.  16.  ' 
than  14,000.  A  council  of  war  was  deliberating  on  capitu 
lation,  when  an  eighteen-pound  ball  swept  across  the 
table.  On  October  16,  5,791  British  troops,  with  arms 
and  baggage,  42  guns  and  ammunition,  surrendered,  re 
ceiving  indeed  the  honours  of  war,  and  being  allowed 
(though  the  stipulation  remained  long  unfulfilled)  to  em 
bark  for  England,  on  condition  of  not  serving  again  against 
the  Americans  until  exchanged.  The  conduct  of  the 
American  soldiers  on  the  surrender  was  excellent ;  as 
the  famished  remnant  of  veterans  came  out,  '  all  was 
mute  astonishment  and  pity.'  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  move 
ment  up  the  river  Hudson  came  too  late  to  help  Bur 
goyne  ;  nor  after  the  storming  of  the  American  forts  on 
the  western  bank  had  it  any  further  result,  than  the 


144      The  V/ ar  of  American  Independence. 

capture  of  stores  and  destruction  of  property,  Forts  Mont 
gomery  and  Clinton  being  evacuated  (Oct.  26). 

Gates  did  not  even  apprise  Washington  of  Burgoyne's 
surrender,  but  made  his  repoit  direct  to  Congress,  which 
Gates  and  vote(i  him  thanks  and  a  gold  medal,  and  when 
Washington.  Washington  urgently  pressed  him  now  to  send 
back  troops,  Gates  refused  to  part  with  them.  Yet,  as 
Washington  shows  in  his  letters,  he  had  to  fight  two  battles 
with  forces  inferior  to  those  of  his  antagonists,  in  order,  if 
possible,  to  save  Philadelphia,  in  a  State  abounding  in  '  the 
disaffected  and  lukewarm/  whilst  'the  States  of  New 
York  and  New  England,  resolving  to  crush  Burgoyne,'  had 
*  continued  pouring  in  their  troops '  till  his  surrender.  It 
was  indeed  only  from  a  distance  that  Washington's  work 
was  appreciated.  Vergennes,  at  an  interview  with  the 
American  commissioners  (Dec.  12,  1777),  declared  that 
nothing  had  struck  him  so  much  as  General  Washington's 
attacking  and  giving  battle  to  General  Howe,  with  '  an 
army  raised  within  a  year.' 

In  England  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Philadelphia 
caused  '  in  the  minds  of  all  sorts  of  people,'  Burke  wrote, 
R  •  i  in  a  ' w*^  tumu^  °f  J°y-'  As  the  seat  of  Congress, 
in^ngiand  Philadelphia  might  well  look  to  the  European 
over  the  oc-  observer  j^e  a  capital,  whereas  it  was  in  fact 

cupation  ot  » 

Phiiadel-  but  one  among  several  great  American  cities, 
fiam's  incon-  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  gain  of  the  cam- 
sistency.  paign  came  to  be  dispassionately  weighed,  it 
appeared  that  the  whole  result  of  British  success  was 
only  the  *  acquisition  of  good  winter  quarters  for  the 
British  army '  in  the  Quaker  city.  When  parliament  met 
on  November  20,  more  than  one  warning  voice  was 
raised.  Pownall  declared  that  the  Americans  would 
never  return  to  subjection,  and  that  until  men  were  con 
vinced  'that  the  United  States  are  an  independent 
sovereign  people,'  and  'prepared  to  treat  with  them  as 


1777-  First  Period.  145 

such/  no  schemes  of  conciliation  could  be  of  much  use. 
Chatham,  who  moved  an  amendment  in  the  Lords,  was 
more  hopeful ;  but  he  again  declared  conquest  impos 
sible.  '  You  may  swell/  he  said,  '  every  expense  and  every 
effort  still  more  extravagantly,  pile  and  accumulate  every 
assistance  you  can  buy  or  borrow ;  traffic  and  barter 
with  every  little  pitiful  German  prince  that  sells  and  sends 
his  subjects  to  the  shambles  of  a  foreign  prince,  but  your 
efforts  are  for  ever  vain  and  impotent/  He  denounced 
with  furious  invective  the  employment  of  Indians,  *  hell 
hounds  of  savage  war '  (Dec.  2.)  But  the  inconsistency 
of  his  policy  was  palpable.  '  Lord  Chatham/  wrote 
Horace  Walpole  to  the  Countess  of  Ossory,  '  is  an  Irish 
man  ;  he  would  recall  the  troops  and  deny  the  indepen 
dence  of  the  Americans'  (Dec.  5.)  The  Duke  of  Richmond, 
on  the  other  hand,  representing  the  Rockingham  Whigs, 
declared  that  he  would  l  sooner  give  up  every  claim  to 
America  than  continue  an  unjust  and  cruel  civil  war.' 
But  the  quiescent  attitude  of  the  party  left  the  ministry 
undisturbed,  justifying  Walpole's  bitter  sarcasm  of  a  few 
months  previous  :  '  The  cruellest  thing  that  has  been  said 
of  the  Americans  by  the  Court  is,  that  they  were  en 
couraged  by  the  Opposition.  You  might  as  soon  light  a 
tire  with  a  wet  dish-clout/  (Walpole  to  Mason,  Oct.  5.) 

But  even  whilst  returning  from  the  debate  of  Decem 
ber  2,  the  news  reached  Lord  North  of  the  surrender  of 
Saratoga.  The  minister  could  neither  eat  nor  sleep,  and 
was  anxious  to  give  up  all,  or  to  retire.  The  king  was  in 
an  agony  of  grief.  The  Opposition  plucked  up  Gloomy  im 
heart  of  grace.  Fox,  Barrd,  Burke  vehe-  *££*%  by 
mently  attacked  the  ministry,  urging  agreement  the  Saratoga 

.  ,     ,1         *  •  -L  r  surrender; 

with  the  Americans  anyhow,  a  recognition  of  France 
independence,  or  even   alliance.     The  Duke  [reatVith    • 
of  Richmond  followed  the  same  line  in  the  America. 
Lords  (nthX     Parliament  adjourned  to  January  20, 1770. 
M.  H,  L 


146     The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.  a 

During  the  recess,  it  is  said  that  the  king  sent  over  to 
Paris  an  old  deaf  Moravian,  named  James  Hutton,  well 
known  to  Franklin,  to  sound  the  latter  as  to  the  possibility 
of  making  terms.  The  reply  was  '  too  late/  Nor  could 
it  be  otherwise.  On  December  12,  at  an  interview  already 
referred  to,  Vergennes  announced  to  the  American  com 
missioners  that  a  treaty  would  be  entered  into  with  them, 
but  that  Spain  must  be  consulted.  On  the  I7th  they 
were  informed  that  American  independence  would  be  not 
only  acknowledged  but  supported  by  France.  Yet  it 
was  only  on  the  28th  that  Lord  Stormont,  the  British 
ambassador  at  Paris,  could  warn  his  chiefs  that  Spain  and 
France  were  plotting. 

There  was  a  sense  in  England  of  an  impending  crisis, 
and  the  king's  thoughts  began  to  turn  to  Chatham,  though 
Sense  of  an  ^e  was  st^  determined  not  to  give  him  control 
impending  as  well  as  place.  When  parliament  met  again 

crisis ;  the  T  «•_»     •*»«•*  •      • 

king  has  on  January  20,  Lord  Rockingham  and  the 
forebodings.  Duke  of  Richmond  again  urged  the  recog 
nition  of  American  independence,  though  Lord  Chatham, 
and  even  Lord  Shelburne,  could  not  yet  entertain  the 
idea.  Lord  North  was  always  anxious  to  retire,  and  only 
remained  in  office  under  pressure  of  his  sovereign.  The 
king  himself  by  this  time  (January  1778),  contemplated  the 
possibility  that  a  time  might  come  when  it  would  be  '  wise 
to  abandon  all  America  but  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  and  the 
Floridas  ; '  but  while  he  disclaimed  'any  absurd  ideas  of  un 
conditional  submission*  (Jan.  31),  he  put  the  continuance 
of  the  war  on  the  plea  that  the  country  had  a  *  right  to 
have  the  struggle  continued  till  convinced  that  it  is  vain/ 
In  America,  in  spite  of  discord  and  weakness,  Con 
gress  was  feeling  its  way  towards  the  establishment  of 
American  nationality.  On  Nov.  15,  1777,  the  scheme  of 
confederation,  which  had  been  under  consideration  since 
July  1776,  was,  with  various  amendments,  adopted,  and' 


1777-8.  First  Period.  147 

remitted  to  the  several  States  for  acceptation.  Weak  ar  it 
eventually  proved  —  reserving  to  each  State  The  scheme 
'its  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence,  f/^^Jj^ 
and  every  power,  jurisdiction,  and   right  not  adopted  by 
expressly  delegated  to  the  United   States  in  NovfTsf' 
Congress  assembled ' — it  declared  a  perpetual  '777. 
union,  and  withheld  from  the  several  States  the  power 
of  treating  with  foreign  countries,  or  with  each   other, 
and  other  functions  of  sovereignty.      It  was   not   how 
ever  acceded  to  by  any  State  till  1778,  nor  by  all,  as  we 
shall  see,  till  1781. 

But  Congress  itself  was  little  more  than  the  shadow 
of  a  name.  The  number  of  members  present  at  its  sit 
tings  rarely  rose  to  17,  fell  sometimes  to  9.  It  Impotency 
tried  in  January  1778  to  borrow,  but  no  one  of  Congress, 
would  lend.  It  could  only  issue  more  and  more  paper 
money.  It  could  not  even  recover  its  debts,  and  had  in 
February  to  beg  the  States  to  enact  laws  for  enabling  it 
to  do  so. 

All  this  impotency  told  of  course  with  twofold  force 
upon   the  army.      There  had    been  dark    days  already 
for  the  commander-in-chief,  but  those  of  the  washing- 
winter  at  Valley  Forge  were  the  darkest.     The  ton's  mise- 

...          .          ,  rable  winter 

neighbourhood  was  chiefly  Tory  ;  the  English  at  Valley 
paid  in  cash  for  their  supplies  ;  Washington  torse- 
had  nothing  but  the  depreciated  paper-money  of  Con 
gress,  and  in  this  paper-money  a  general's  pay  scarcely  kept 
him  in  clothes.  Three  days  before  Christmas  the  last 
ration  had  been  served  out.  Washington  declared  in 
writing  to  the  President  of  Congress,  that  unless  '  some 
great  and  capital  change '  suddenly  took  place,  the  army 
must  inevitably  either  '  starve,  dissolve,  or  disperse  in 
order  to  obtain  subsistence  in  the  best  manner  they  can.' 
For  want  of  shoes  or  clothing  2,898  men  were  unfit  for 
duty.  He  was  compelled  to  send  out  foraging  parties, 

L2 


1^8       The  War  of  American  Independence.    A.D. 

whilst  warning  Congress  that  such  measures  ruined 
discipline.  By  February  the  neighbourhood  was  ex 
hausted,  the  horses  were  dying  for  want  of  forage, 
and  the  commissaries  could  see  no  means  of  supply 
beyond  March  n.  For  six  days  running  the  soldiers 
were  without  meat ;  and  there  was  hardly  a  whole  pair 
of  shoes  in  the  camp.  Putrid  fevers  and  other  deadly 
diseases  were  rife.  Desertions  were  '  astonishingly 
great.'  In  little  more  than  six  months,  between  200  and 
300  officers  threw  up  their  commissions.  Had  Sir  W. 
Howe  attacked  the  army,  he  must  have  annihilated  it. 
The  Pennsylvania  legislature  censured  the  comrnander-in- 
chief.  A  cabal  was  formed  against  him,  the  moving  spirit 
in  which  was  an  Irishman  named  Conway.  Congress 
appointed  his  opponents  on  a  new  board  of  war,  and  made 
Conway  inspector  of  the  army.  Propositions  were  made 
for  putting  Gates  or  Lee  (lately  exchanged  for  General 
Prescott),  in  his  place.  An  effort  was  made  to  detach  La 
Fayette  from  him  by  giving  the  former  the  command  of 
an  expedition  to  Canada,  planned  without  consulting  the 
commander-in-chief,  with  Conway  for  second  in  com 
mand.  But  La  Fayette  saw  through  the  design  ;  the 
attempt  was  felt  to  be  impracticable,  and  was  given  up. 
Washington  was  maintained,  and  on  his  representations 
measures  were  taken  for  better  organising  the  army  and 
the  war. 

Meanwhile  the  British  were  wasting  the  fruits  of  their 
late  successes  in  inaction.  Philadelphia  proved  'the 
inaction  of  Capua  of  the  British  army.'  As  Franklin 
the  English.  phrased  it>  instead  of  Howe's  taking  Phila 
delphia,  Philadelphia  took  Howe.  The  officers  were 
spending  their  time  in  amateur  theatricals  and  amuse 
ments  of  all  sorts,  gambling  for  high  stakes,  and  disgusting 
the  staid  Quaker  population  not  only  with  their  levity 
but  their  debaucheries. 


1778.  Second  Period.  149 

But  the  news  which  reached  America  in  May  1778 
startled  the  English  out  of  their  gaieties,  and  woke  the 
Americans   out   of  their    torpor.      On    Feb-  The  treaty 
ruary  6  not  only  a  treaty  of  amity  and  com-  France^nd 
merce,  but    of    eventual  defensive    alliance,  pJJJua*'  6 
was  concluded  at  Paris  between  France  and  1778. 
the  United  States.      The  absolute  and  unlimited   inde 
pendence  of  the   United   States  was  put  forth  as   the 
essential  object,  each  party  agreeing  not  to  lay   down 
their  arms  till  this  independence  should  be  ensured  by 
treaty.     By  a    separate   secret  convention,   power  was 
reserved  to  the  King  of  Spain  to  accede  to  the  treaties. 

To  call  such  a  treaty  a  defensive  one  was  a  transpa 
rent  subterfuge.  Since  England  was  at  war  to  prevent  the 
independence  of  her  American  colonies,  to 

.         ,          .,  ,  .  ,_•   i      i  •      ,.   The  theatre 

make  that  independence  the  essential  object  Of  the  war 
of  a  treaty,  and  to  guarantee  it,  was  equivalent  enlarscd- 
to  a  declaration   of  war  upon  her.     From  henceforth 
virtually   the  area  of  the  conflict  becomes  that  of  the 
globe  itself. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  WAR.    SECOND  PERIOD  :  FROM  THE  ALLIANCE  WITH 
FRANCE  TILL  THE  END  OF  THE  WAR  (1778-83). 

THE  treaty  between  the  King  of  France  and  the  United 
States  was  not  immediately  published  in  the  former 
country.  Voltaire,  in  a  letter  of  March  15,  pranceand 
speaks  of  its  publication  as  a  recent  event,  the  treaty. 
His  view  was  that  '  without  a  declaration  of  war  there 
would  be  blows  struck/  France  indeed  was  but  ill 
prepared  for  war.  Her  finances  had  lately  been  en 
trusted  to  the  Genevese  banker  Necker.  His  credit  wa? 


150      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

good,  and  he  found  money,  where  his  predecessors  had 
failed  to  do  so.  The  device  of  a  State  lottery,  amongst 
others,  was  tried  in  France,  as  it  was  also  tried  in 
England  ;  but  already,  at  the  time  when  Voltaire  wrote, 
the  tickets  were  at  8  per  cent,  discount,  and  there  were 
5,000  which  had  found  no  purchasers.  Vast  sums  had 
however  been  spent  on  the  fleets,  and  France  hoped 
once  more,  with  the  eventual  help  of  Spain,  to  dispute 
with  England  the  supremacy  of  the  seas. 

In  England  the  existence  of  the  treaty  was  soon  known 
to  the  ministry.  It  is  said  that  the  king's  first  idea  on 
LordNorth's  nearmg  of  it  was  to  withdraw  at  once  all  land 
conciliatory  and  sea  forces  from  America,  and  concentrate 
all  the  efforts  of  England  against  France  alone. 
This  was  not  done  ;  but  now,  when  it  was  too  late,  con 
cessions  were  offered  which,  if  granted  before,  would 
no  doubt  have  averted  the  war.  On  February  17 — 
which  Horace  Walpole  describes  as  'a  day  of  con 
fusion  and  humiliation  that  will  be  remembered  as 
long  as  the  name  of  England  exists ' — Lord  North 
brought  forward  a  plan  of  conciliation,  in  which  the 
independence  of  the  United  States  was  acknowledged, 
to  use  his  words,  not  l  verbally '  but  yet  '  virtually/ 
He  was  asked  if  he  did  not  know  that  the  treaty  between 
the  Americans  and  France  was  signed.  l  He  would  not 
answer  till  Sir  George  Saville  hallooed  out,  "  An  answer, 
an  answer,  an  answer!"  His  lordship  then  rose,  could 
not  deny  the  fact,  but  said  he  did  not  know  it  officially.' 
There  was  no  opposition  to  speak  of,  either  now  or 
during  the  progress  of  the  measures  through  Parliament, 
and  by  the  month  of  April  three  acts  were  passed  (known 
as  'Lord  North's  Conciliatory  Bills,'  18  Geo.  III.,  cc.  11, 
12,  13),  one  of  which  repealed  the  act  for  regulating  the 
government  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  ground  of  its 
having  been  'found  to  create  great  uneasinesses  in  the 


1778.  Second  Period.  151 

minds  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  province/  and  having 
'  occasioned  jealousies  and  apprehensions  of  danger  to 
their  liberties  and  rights  in  several  others  of  the  colonies 
and  plantations  in  North  America.'  A  second,  besides 
repealing  the  Tea  Act,  renounced  the  right  of  taxation 
by  the  king  and  parliament  for  any  of  the  colonies  in 
North  America  or  the  West  Indies,  except  as  regarded 
duties  for  the  regulation  of  commerce,  and  even  these 
duties  were  to  be  applied  for  the  use  of  the  respective 
colonies  in  the  same  manner  as  duties  collected  by 
authority  of  their  general  courts  or  assemblies.  A  third 
empowered  the  crown  to  appoint  two  commissioners, 
with  power  (until  June  I.  1779)  to  treat  '  with  any  body 
or  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  or  with  any  assembly  or 
assemblies  of  men,  or  with  any  person  or  persons 
whatsoever/  for  the  redress  of  grievances,  &c.,  to  order 
a  cessation  of  hostilities  by  sea  or  land,  suspend  any 
act  of  parliament  passed  since  Feb.  10,  1/63,  grant 
pardons,  &c.  Any  term  implying  rebellion  was  carefully 
avoided  in  these  acts,  in  which  the  strongest  expres 
sion,  besides  that  of  '  hostilities/  was  that  of  '  disorders 
among  his  Majesty's  faithful  subjects/ — which  '  faithful ' 
subjects  had,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  now 
nearly  two  years  old,  pronounced  his  Majesty's  cha 
racter  to  be  *  marked  by  every  act  that  may  define  a 
tyrant/  and  himself  thereby  *  unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of 
a  free  people.'  Conciliation  in  this  form  could  be  held 
only  as  a  demonstration  of  weakness. 

In  the  meanwhile,  on  March  17,  the  ministry  had  laid 
before  parliament  a  notification  from  France  of  her  treaty 
with  America,  which  was  ironically  declared  not  The  kIn<T 
to  be  an  exclusive  one.     Lord  Stormont  was  at  will  not  have 
once  recalled,  and  the   cry  swelled  for  Lord  ham  as 
Chatham  as  premier.     How  unfit  he  was  for  Premier- 
the  office,  the  course  of  another  short  month*  would  prove. 


i$2      The  War  of  A  merican  Independence.     A. a 

But  his  name  seemed  to  be  a  tower  of  strength  against 
France,  and  was  no  doubt  so  felt  in  France  itself.  The 
king  obstinately  refused  to  give  him  more  than  high  office. 
'No  consideration  in  life/  he  wrote  on  that  very  March  17 
when  France  was  known  to  have  virtually  thrown  down 
the  gauntlet  to  England,  « shall  make  me  stoop  to  opposi 
tion.  .  .  .  Whilst  any  ten  men  in  the  kingdom  will  stand 
by  me,  I  will  not  give  myself  into  bondage.  .  .  .It  is 
impossible  that  the  nation  should  not  stand  by  me ;  if 
they  will  not,  they  shall  have  another  king/  With  relent 
less  hatred  towards  Chatham  he  could  look  forward  to 
the  day  '  when  decrepitude  or  death  puts  an  end  to  him 
as  a  trumpet  of  sedition.'  So  Lord  North,  vainly  beseech 
ing  to  be  released,  remained  in  the  pillory  of  his  office. 

A  few  weeks  later  occurred  (April  7)  the  last  scene  in 
Lord  Chatham's  political  life.  The  Duke  of  Richmond 
Death  of  nad  brought  forward  a  motion  for  the  with- 
MajMti11'  drawal  of  the  fleets  and  armies  from  America, 
1778.  '  and  for  the  use  of  none  but  amicable  means 
towards  her.  And  now  Lord  Chatham,  who  had  repeat 
edly  declared  that  America  could  not  be  conquered,  rose 
up  to  express  his  indignation  at  an  idea  which  had  gone 
forth  of  giving  up  America.  *  As  long/  he  said,  <  as  I  can 
crawl  down  to  this  house,  and  have  strength  to  raise  myself 
on  my  crutches,  or  lift  my  hand,  I  will  vote  against  giving 
up  the  dependency  of  America  on  the  sovereignty  of  Great 
Britain.'  He  had  spoken,  Walpole  tells  us,  '  with  every 
symptom  of  debility,  repeated  his  own  phrases,  could  not 
recollect  his  own  ideas/  The  Duke  of  Richmond,  in  very 
measured  terms,  replied  to  him.  Lord  Chatham  rose 
again,  staggered,  and  fell  in  an  apoplectic  fit.  The  House 
adjourned.  He  lingered  till  May  n.  Parliament  voted 
him  a  public  funeral  and  a  monument,  with  a  perpetual 
pension  of  4,ooo/.  a  year  to  his  heirs,  and  a  large  sum  of 
money  for  payment  of  his  debts.  The  funeral  took  place 
on  June  7  ;  but  Walpole  observed  tJ"at  the  funeral  of  Gar- 


i 877.  Second  Period.  1 5  3 

rick  the  actor  had  been  ten  times  more  largely  attended. 
His  death  strengthened  the  ministry,  as  the  two  fractions 
of  the  opposition,  the  followers  of  Lord  Shelburne,  and  the 
Rockingham  Whigs,  could  not  yet  be  brought  to  combine. 
Meanwhile  the  sending  of  reinforcements  to  America 
was  stopped,  and  an  act  was  passed  for  strengthening  the 
militia  and  to  encourage  volunteers.  The 

.....       ,     Preparations 

prospect  of  a  war  with  France  called  forth  for  war  with 
the  warlike  energies  of  the  country,  and  by  France- 
July  7  Walpole  could  write  to  Sir  H.  Mann :  '  The  country 
is  covered  with  camps.  General  Conway,  who  has  been 
to  one  of  them,  speaks  with  astonishment  of  the  fineness 
of  the  men,  of  the  regiments,  of  their  discipline  and  ma 
noeuvres.'  Various  concessions,  both  fiscal  and  eccle 
siastical,  were  made  to  Ireland.  It  was  not,  however,  till 
the  end  of  July  that  France  formally  declared  war,  and  as 
late  as  September  communications  remained  open  between 
France  and  England. 

On  May  3,  1778,  news  reached  Congress,  and  was  for 
warded  by  it  to  Washington,  of  the  treaty  with  France. 
By  an  order  of  the  day  (May  6),  stating  that '  it  Rejoicings 
has  pleased  the  Almighty  Ruler  of  the  universe  to  ^rtth^ 
defend  the  cause  of  the  United  American  States,  America. 
and  finally  to  raise  us  up  a  powerful  friend  among  the 
princes  of  the  earth,  to  establish  our  liberty  and  indepen 
dency  upon  a  lasting  foundation/  Washington  set  apart 
the  following  day  as  one  of  solemn  rejoicing,  which  was 
celebrated  with  thanksgiving  by  the  brigade  chaplains, 
military  evolutions,  feux  de  joie,  and  huzzas  of  'Long 
live  the  King  of  France!'  *  Long  live  the  friendly  European 
Powers  and  The  American  States/'  Congress  at  first  took 
steps  for  reinforcing  the  army  ;  replaced  the  inspector- 
general  Conway,  who  had  resigned  in  a  huff,  by  an  expe 
rienced  Prussian  lieutenant-general,  Baron  Steuben,  late 
aide-de-camp  of  Frederick  the  Great ;  and  pledged  to  the 
officers  the  payment  of  half-pay  after  the  close  of  the  war. 


154      The  War  of  American  Independence.    A.n. 

Yet  the  promotion  of  foreign  officers  created  such  discon 
tent,  and  often  led  to  results  otherwise  so  unsatisfactory, 
that  a  few  months  later  we  find  Washington  writing,  <  I 
most  devoutly  wish  that  we  had  not  a  single  foreigner 
jimong  us  except  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette'  (July  24). 

The  haste  with  which  Lord  North's  Conciliatory  Bills 
had  been  passed  had  been  so  far  successful  that  drafts  of 
Reception  them,  together  with  Lord  North's  speech  in- 
cfii£or£°n"  Producing  them,  had  reached  New  York 
Bills.  several  weeks  before  the  French  treaty.  So 

entirely  unexpected  were  such  concessions,  that  for  several 
days  neither  Washington  nor  Laurens,  then  President  of 
Congress,  could  believe  them  genuine.  When  Washington 
became  convinced  of  their  genuineness,  it  is  obvious  that 
he  felt  considerable  doubts  as  to  the  effect  they  would 
produce.  There  were  symptoms  to  authorise  an  opinion 
that  the  people  of  America  were  '  pretty  generally  weary* 
of  the  war  ;  and  it  appeared  to  him  doubtful  whether 
many  *  might  not  incline  to  an  accommodation  rather 
than  persevere  in  a  contest  for  independence.'  Hence 
1  to  enter  into  a  negotiation  too  hastily  or  to  reject  it 
altogether '  might f  be  attended  with  consequences  equally 
fatal'  Congress  however  promptly  decided  (April  22) 
'  that  these  States  cannot  with  propriety  hold  any  con 
ference  or  treaty  with  any  commissioners  on  the  part  of 
Great  Britain,  unless  they  shall,  as  a  preliminary  thereto, 
either  withdraw  their  fleets  and  armies,  or  else  in  positive 
and  express  terms  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the 
said  States.'  The  news  of  the  French  treaty  could  only 
strengthen  the  grounds  for  such  a  course. 

When  therefore  the  commissioners  under  the  late  act 
Arrival  of  arrived  in  the  Delaware  (June  4),  their  under- 
the  royal  taking  was  foredoomed  to  failure.  They  were 
ersTjKne  4,  three  in  number — the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  William 
1778).  Eden,  afterwards  Lord  Auckland,  and  George 

Johnstone,  a  former  Governor  of  West  Florida,  hence 


1 77g.  Second  Period.  1 5  5 

commonly  spoken  of  as  Governor  Johnstone.  Lord  Howe 
and  Sir  William  Howe  were  also  included  in  the 
commission,  but  the  latter  having  resigned,  his  successor, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  took  his  place.  The  conciliatory  acts 
as  passed  were  in  the  first  instance  forwarded  to  Congress 
(June  6).  They  replied  that  they  had  in  April  expressed 
their  sentiments  on  bills  not  essentially  different,  and 
that  when  the  king  should  be  '  seriously  disposed  to  end 
the  unprovoked  war  waged  against  these  United  States,' 
they  would  '  readily  attend  to  such  terms  of  peace  as  may 
consist  with  the  honour  of  independent  nations  and  the 
sacred  regard  they  mean  to  pay  to  treaties.' 

On  that  very  day  the  commissioners  arrived  at  Phila 
delphia,  to  find  it  in  course  of  evacuation.  The  French 
alliance  alone,  without  any  active  measures  on  The  evacua- 
the  part  of  the  Americans,  had  determined  Jfej.^1*' 
Lord  George  Germain  to  order  this  step  by  a  ordered, 
secret  despatch,  of  which  the  commissioners  seem  to 
have  been  unaware.  The  occupation  of  the  Quaker  city 
by  the  British  had  terminated  with  the  same  levity  which 
had  characterised  it  all  through.  Before  Sir  William 
Howe  had  left  (May  24)  a  grand  tournament  or  '  mis- 
chianza '  had  been  held  by  the  officers  in  his  honour. 
But  when  Lord  Carlisle  landed,  the  British  territory  did 
not  extend  more  than  two  miles  from  the  city.  The 
order  for  evacuation  had  been  received  with  the 
gloomiest  feelings ;  3,000  loyalists  were  embarking 
to  escape  with  the  troops.  The  commissioners  had 
just  time  to  write  to  Congress,  offering  to  the  '  States ' 
perfect  freedom  of  legislation  and  internal  government, 
representation  in  parliament,  .and  exemption  from  the 
presence  of  troops,  except  with  their  own  permission, 
and  then  pledging  themselves  to  take  their  departure  on 
board  ship.  But  the  answer  (June  17)  was  the  same  as 
before,  and  required  from  the  king  '  an  explicit  acknow* 


r  56      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.  D. 

ledgment  of  the  independence  of  these  States,  or  the 
withdrawing  of  his  fleets  and  armies.7 

In  the  course  of  that  night  (June  17-18)  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  finally  evacuated  Philadelphia,  crossing  the  Dela- 
Philadeiphia  ware  with  over  17,000  men.  Philadelphia  was 
blttieaofd;  Before  long  re-occupied  by  the  Americans, 
Monmouth  and  Arnold  placed  in  command  there.  Clin- 
Lwnand):  ton  advanced  slowly  through  New  Jersey, 
Washington,  retreating  on  New  York,  weakened  daily  by 
desertions,  his  baggage  occupying  a  line  eight  miles 
long. 

Washington,  whose  forces  had  been  slowly  recruited 
during  the  spring,  endeavoured  to  obstruct  his  march, 
and  against  the  advice  of  a  council  of  war,  gave  battle 
at  Monmouth  Court  House  (June  28).  The  weather 
was  such  that  on  the  British  side  the  Hessians  refused 
to  engage,  alleging  that  it  was  too  hot.  Three  sergeants 
and  fifty-six  men  dropped  down  dead  from  the  heat 
Lee,  who  at  first,  as  disapproving  the  movement,  had 
handed  over  to  La  Fayette  the  conduct  of  the  attack, 
afterwards  claimed  to  retain  it,  but  blundered  and  re 
treated,  and  was  found  by  Washington,  who  was  march 
ing  to  his  support  with  the  main  body,  in  the  rear  of  his 
division.  Washington  gave  him  a  severe  rebuke,  and 
sent  him  back  to  the  battle,  which  was  sharply  contested, 
and  ended  by  leaving  the  Americans  masters  of  the 
field,  whilst  the  British  took  up  a  strong  position  covered 
by  woods  and  marshes,  with  only  a  narrow  pass  in  front, 
out  of  which  however  they  effected  a  safe  retreat  during 
the  night  with  all  their  wounded  who  could  be  moved. 
Leaving  about  250  of  their  dead  to  be  buried  by  the 
Americans,  besides  100  prisoners,  they  made  good  their 
way  to  New  York.  The  American  loss  was  about  200 
in  killed  and  wounded.  The  day  after  the  battle  Lee 
sent  a  challenge  to  Washington.  He  was  thereupon 


1778.  Second  Period.  157 

tried  by  court-martial  for  disobedience  of  orders,  mis 
behaviour  before  the  enemy,  and  disrespect  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief,  found  guilty  on  all  the  charges,  and 
sentenced  to  be  suspended  from  all  command  for  a  year. 
He  never  rejoined  the  army,  and  died  four  years  later. 

On  July  2  Congress  met  again  at  Philadelphia.     On 
the  9th   the  articles   of  confederation  were  signed   by 
eight  States,  and  a  circular  was  issued  the  next  Articles  of 
day  to  the  five  remaining  ones,  pressing  them  ^^^ 
to  conclude  the  l  glorious  compact,'  an  invita-  by  several 
tion  which  was  acceded  to  in  the  course  of  the 
month  by  two  of  them, — North  Carolina  and  Georgia. 

Meanwhile,  Clinton  had  scarcely  reached  New  York, 
when   a   French  fleet  with  a  strong  land  force  under 
Count  d'Estaing  appeared  off  the  mouth  of  the  D-Estaing 
Delaware  (July  8).     An  attack  on  New  York  and  the 

.  ,        .  ,  .  ,  French  m- 

was  projected,  with  a  view  to  the  capture  or  vestment  of 
destruction  of  the  British  fleet  which  lay  in  the  NewP°rt- 
bay.  But  the  French  ships  could  not  cross  the  bar  of 
the  Hudson,  and  it  was  resolved  to  attack  the  British 
at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  which  was  invested  by  the 
Americans  from  the  land  side  under  General  Sullivan, 
supported  by  La  Fayette  and  Greene,  and  by  the 
French  fleet  from  the  sea.  But  the  American  troops 
were  not  ready  for  a  week  after  D'Estaing's  arrival. 
Then  a  British  fleet  under  Lord  Howe  suddenly  made  its 
appearance,  and  Count  d'Estaing  sailed  out  to  meet  it ; 
but  a  violent  storm,  still  remembered  in  Rhode  Island 
as  'the  great  storm,'  separated  the  combatants,  and  so 
damaged  the  French  fleet  that  before  long  D'Estaing,  in 
spite  of  the  efforts  of  La  Fayette  and  Greene  to  persuade 
him  otherwise,  announced  that  he  must  return  to  Boston 
to  refit,  so  that  Sullivan  (August  28)  had  to  retreat.  All 
the  American  general  officers  except  La  Fayette  and 
Greene  protested  against  the  French  admiral's  departure. 
Events  which,  although  of  little  military  importance, 


158      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

sank  deep  into  the  hearts  of  the  Americans,  and  proved 
Indian  mas-  to  ^e  °^  terrible  moment  for  the  fates  of  the 
sacres.  red  men,  were  the  incursions  of  the  Indians 
(Iroquois),  headed  or  aided  by  loyalists,  into  the  valley  of 
the  Susquehannah  and  Cherry  Valley,  and  the  massacres 
which  ensued,  accompanied  by  all  the  barbarities  of 
Indian  warfare.  That  of  Wyoming  in  particular  has  been 
immortalised  by  the  poet  Campbell  in  his  '  Gertrude  of 
Wyoming.'  (July  and  November  1778.) 

The  peace  commissioners  themselves  ended  by  add 
ing  fuel  to  the  flame  of  war.  A  second  letter  of  theirs, 
Failure  of  asking  tne  authority  of  Congress  for  making 
the  peace  treaties,  had  been  left  unanswered  (July  18). 
Governor  Johnstone  is  said  then  to  have  tried 
bribery  with  Joseph  Reed,  now  in  Congress.  Congress, 
on  being  informed  of  the  circumstances,  refused  to  hold 
any  further  communication  with  him.  Johnstone  pub 
lished  a  vindication  of  himself,  but  withdrew  from  the 
commission.  The  commissioners  published  a  final 
address  or  manifesto  (October  3)  declaring  that  the 
conduct  of  the  Americans  would  '  change  the  whole 
nature  and  future  conduct  of  the  war/  and  threatening 
them  with  the  l  extremes  of  war.7  The  declaration  was 
strongly  condemned  in  parliament  by  Coke  of  Norfolk, 
afterwards  Lord  Leicester,  Burke,  Rockingham,  and  the 
Bishop  of  Peterborough,  but  defended  by  Lord  George 
Germain,  Johnstone  himself,  and  Lord  Suffolk.  That  it 
was  not  intended  as  an  idle  threat  was  shown  by  the 
ravages  already  perpetrated  by  detachments  from  Clinton's 
army  as  well  as  by  those  of  the  Indians  already  mentioned. 
Between  France  and  England  the  war  was  being  carried 
™  -  on  with  varying  fortunes.  There  had  been  an 

I  he  war  in  .... 

other  quar-  indecisive  action  within  sight  of  Brest  (July  27), 
Suonese!;  between  the  French  and  English  fleets,the  latter 
Hyder  All.  under  Admiral  Keppel,  who  was  tried  for  mis 
conduct  by  court-martial  in  the  early  part  of  the  follow- 


1778.  Second  Period. 

ing  year,  but  honourably  acquitted.  In  the  West  Indies 
Dominica  was  taken  by  the  French  (September),  St.  Lucia 
by  the  English,  D'Estaing  being  beaten  off  with  loss  (De 
cember).  The  western  coast  of  England  was  harried  by 
Paul  Jones,  a  Scotchman  in  the  American  service, who  even 
burnt  the  shipping  inWhitehaven.  But  in  point  of  prizes  the 
balance  of  profit  on  the  war  lay  with  England.  More  than 
two  millions'  worth  had  been  taken  by  her  cruisers  by 
October  30.  A  camp  established  by  the  French  in  Nor 
mandy  came  to  nothing.  In  India,  before  even  accurate 
tidings  were  received  of  the  war  with  France,  measures 
were  taken  for  seizing  all  the  French  settlements.  Pon- 
dicherry  alone  resisted  for  seventy  days,  the  others  sur 
rendered  without  a  blow.  But  the  taking  of  Mah£  was 
the  occasion  of  a  war  (the  second)  with  Hyder  AH,  a  sol 
dier  of  fortune  who  had  possessed  himself  of  the  throne  of 
Mysore,  and  who,  with  his  son  Tippoo,  proved  one  of  the 
most  formidable  foes  ever  met  by  the  English  in  India. 
He  had  warned  the  English  that  he  would  invade  the 
Carnatic  if  Mah£  were  attacked.  He  was  as  good  as  his 
word,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year  there  was  war  with  the 
Mahrattas. 

Let  us  now  return  to  America.     Mr.  Bancroft  heads 
one  of  the  chapters  in  the  last  volume  of  his  History  of 
the  United   States   with  the  title,  1A  people 
without  a  government,  August-December  1778.'  impotency 
With  keen  knowledge  of  the  character  of  his  °f s^g"^ess ; 
people,  Washington  had  written,  two  days  after  French 
learning  of  the  French  alliance,  <  I  very  much  'Protection-' 
fear  that  we,  taking  it  for  granted  that  we  have  nothing 
more  to  do,  because  France  has  acknowledged  our  inde 
pendency  and  formed  an  alliance  with  us,  shall  relapse 
into  a  state  of  supineness  and  perfect  security7  (May  5, 
1 778).    Congress  remained  assiduously  engaged  in  making 
paper  money,  without  even  being  able  to  obtain  the  sole 


160      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

right  of  doing  so  from  the  several  States,  and  issuing  loan 
certificates  at  six  per  cent,  interest,  without  having  the 
power  to  raise  taxes  to  pay  even  the  latter.  Some  of 
these  certificates  they  succeeded  in  getting  rid  of  by  dis 
charging  in  them  their  debts  to  the  several  States.  A 
more  brilliant  idea  was  that  of  drawing  on  their  commis 
sioners  in  Paris,  and  this  was  actually  done  in  the  very 
month  when  the  news  of  the  French  treaty  was  received, 
to  the  extent  of  31,500,000  livres,  or  say  i,22O,ooo/.,  the 
expectation  being  of  course  that  the  commissioners,  who 
were  provided  with  no  means  whatever  of  meeting  the 
bills,  would  somehow  beg  the  money  from  France.  Con 
gress  turned  to  an  English  writer  on  finance,  Dr.  Price, 
offering  him  citizenship,  and  requesting  him  to  regulate 
their  finances ;  he  declined  the  invitation.  And  now  these 
States,  so  punctilious  as  to  the  acknowledgment  of  their 
independence  on  the  part  of  England,  humbled  them 
selves  to  France  so  far  as  to  instruct  Franklin  (end  of 
October)  to  assure  the  king  that  <  they  hoped  protection 
from  his  power  and  magnanimity/  the  word  *  protection' 
being  divided  against,  but  carried  by  a  majority  of  eight 
States  to  two.  There  was  no  resource,  it  was  admitted, 
but  in  '  very  considerable  loans  or  subsidies  in  Europe, 
and  whilst  Franklin  was  pressing  for  a  loan  in  France, 
Laurens  was  sent  (December)  to  obtain  one  if  possible 
from  Holland.  The  disgraceful  feature  of  the  matter  was, 
that  as  the  war  was  confined  to  a  few  districts  of  the  coast 
or  frontier,  the  country  generally  was  prospering,  Virginia 
growing  abundance  of  tobacco,  and  Massachusetts  gather 
ing  wealth  by  trade. 

Whilst  Washington  was  left  too  weak  for  offensive  war 
fare,  Clinton  also  in  New  York  remained  not  only  without 
reinforcements,  but  with  an  empty  chest,  and  was  more 
over  directed  to  weaken  himself  by  sending  ten  regiments 
to  the  West  Indi.es,  and  an  expedition  to  the  south,  so 


'779- 


Second  Period.  161 


that,  without  complaining,   he  had   to  beg  that  nothing 
might  be  ( expected*  of  him.    The  expedition 

-.        r,       '.  .,-  British  ope- 

tO  the  South  was  the  most  important  military  rations  in 

event  of  the  year.  The  region  was  one  where  savannah 
the  Tories  or  loyalists  were  most  numerous,  taken  (De- 
Already  two  incursions  into  Georgia,  consisting  an?  Georgia 
in  great  measure  of  such  refugees,  had  taken  recovered- 
place  during  the  autumn  from  East  Florida,  whilst  an 
attempt  to  retaliate  upon  St.  Augustine  failed.  Towards 
the  end  of  December  a  British  fleet  under  Sir  Peter 
Parker,  bearing  Colonel  Campbell  with  2,000  men,  ap 
peared  before  Savannah.  General  Howe,  who  com 
manded  on  the  American  side,  with  900  men  under  him, 
was  completely  defeated  (December  29),  losing  100  men 
killed  and  453  prisoners,  whilst  the  English  lost  only  24 
in  killed  and  wounded.  Savannah  was  occupied,  and  in 
the  beginning  of  January  1779  Colonel  Prevost,  who  com 
manded  in  East  Florida,  marched  through  Lower  Georgia 
to  Savannah,  subduing  the  country  as  he  went,  and 
though  there  was  not  such  a  general  rising  of  loyalists 
as  was  expected,  the  whole  province  was  practically 
recovered. 

The  next  attempt  was  on  South  Carolina  ;  but  a  party 
of  loyalists  from  thence,  on  their  way  to  rejoin  the  British 
army,  were  cut  to  pieces  (February  14,  1779), 

,         ,  .  i        it   •  •   i     •*•  South  Caro- 

only  about  200  escaping  to  the  British  lines.  Una  invaded, 

The  prisoners  taken  were  afterwards  tried  for  ^d  Charles- 

r  ton  threat- 

treason  to  South  Carolina,    70  of  them  con-  ened  (May 

victed,  and  5  hung.  The  American  army  was  '  ' 
not,  however,  successfully  commanded  by  General  Lin 
coln,  who  had  replaced  Howe.  A  detachment  of  1,500 
North  Carolina  militia,  with  a  few  Continentals  under 
Colonel  Aske,  was  signally  defeated  by  Prevost  at  Briar 
Arch  on  the  Savannah  river,  near  Augusta  (March  3);  and 
only  ^50  men  rejoined  General  Lincoln  out  of  the  whole 
A/.  //.  M 


1 62       The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

force.  Colonel  Prevost  now  pushed  forward  to  Charleston 
(May  1 1),  into  which  some  hundreds  of  men  had  thrown 
themselves,  under  Moultrie,  the  Pole  Pulaski,  and  others. 
Congress  had  recommended  the  arming  of  the  slaves; 
but  this  was  so  distasteful  to  the  council  of  the  State  that 
they  sent  to  propose  to  the  English  its  neutrality  during 
the  war.  This  was  of  course  refused,  and  Prevost  de 
clined  to  treat  with  the  civil  government,  demanding  the 
surrender  of  the  garrison  as  prisoners  of  war.  But  on 
the  news  of  Lincoln's  approach  the  English  commander 
drew  off,  leaving  a  post  at  Stony  Ferry,  afterwards  trans 
ferred  to  Beaufort.  Soon,  however,  the  ravages  and  plunder 
of  the  British  troops  in  South  Carolina  went  far  to  alienate 
the  population,  whilst  the  intense  heat  compelled  both 
parties  to  give  up  active  operations  in  the  south  till  the 
autumn  ;  the  Carolina  militia  went  home,  and  Lincoln 
remained  with  only  800  men. 

The  winter  of  1778-9,  owing  to  better  supplies  and 
better  regulations,  was  less  trying  to  the  main  army, 
Washing-  encamped  at  Middlebrook,  New  Jersey,  than 
durin^the  an^  ^et  exPer^enced,  although  it  still  required 
winter  of  Washington's  *  constant  presence  and  atten- 
fenstve  °  tion/  anc*  '  some  degree  of  care  and  address,  to 
campaign.  keep  it  from  crumbling'  (Dec.  12,  1778).  But 
an  overweening  confidence  had  now  replaced  despondency. 
Everything  was  expected  from  the  support  of  the  French. 
The  British  were  still  at  New  York,  and  Washington  had 
great  trouble  to  hinder  Congress  from  attempting  to  con 
quer  Canada  with  the  aid  of  France.  It  is  a  remarkable 
instance  of  the  combination  in  him  of  statesmanship  with 
military  skill,  that  although  the  scheme  had  originated 
with  his  intimate  friend  La  Fayette,  he  at  once  discounte 
nanced  it  en  the  ground  of  the  *  true  and  permanent  in 
terests'  of  his  country,  lest  France  should  recover  Canada* 
and  'have  it  in  her  power  to  give  law  to  these  States ; 


1779-  Second  Period.  163 

and  this  although  he  was  '  thoroughly  convinced  of  the 
expediency  and  policy  of  doing  everything  practicable '  on 
the  part  of  the  Americans,  'even  for  accomplishing  the  an 
nexation  of  Canada  to  the  Union.'  There  was  great  delay 
in  the  necessary  recruiting.  A  great  part  of  the  officers, 
Washington  wrote,  were,  'from  absolute  necessity/  quitting 
the  service,  the  '  virtuous  few '  who  remained  '  sinking  by 
sure  degrees  into  beggary  and  want,'  so  that '  the  dissolu 
tion  of  the  army  '  was  again  *  not  an  improbable  event,  if 
the  situation  of  the  officers  were  not  improved*  (Jan.  20, 
1779).  After  a  month's  consultation  with  the  commander- 
in-chief,  Congress  decided  that  the  state  of  the  currency 
and  supplies  would  oblige  them  to  act  on  the  defensive 
during  the  campaign  of  1779,  except  as  related  to  the 
chastising  of  the  Indians  (April  1779).  A  defensive  cam 
paign  is  not  the  one  to  attract  recruits,  and  by  May  8  the 
army  was  f  little  more  than  the  skeleton  of  an  army/  and 
the  New  Jersey  brigade  could  with  difficulty  be  restrained 
from  abandoning  the  service,  owing  to  arrears  of  pay. 
Clinton,  whose  forces,  though  weakened  by  the  expedition 
to  the  south,  were  rather  more  numerous  than  Washing 
ton's,  harried  the  country  with  marauding  parties.  Ter 
rible  ravages  were  committed  in  Virginia,  on  the  Chesa 
peake,  where,  besides  captures,  over  130  vessels  and 
5oo,ooo/.  worth  of  property  were  destroyed  (May).  Sail 
ing  up  the  Hudson,  Clinton  compelled  the  evacuation  or 
surrender  of  Stony  Point  and  Verplanck  Point,  posts 
fortified  by  Washington  to  protect  the  crossing  at  King's 
Ferry,  the  chief  channel  of  communication  between  the 
eastern  and  middle  States  and  West  Point,  where  the 
Americans  had  their  chief  magazines  and  stores  (June  i, 
!779)-  General  Tryon,  the  former  governor  of  New  York, 
ravaged  the  coast  of  Connecticut,  plundering  or  burning 
New  Haven  and  other  towns.  He  was,  however,  recalled, 
owing  to  the  recovery  of  Stony  Point  by  General  Wayne 


164       The  War  of  American  Independence.    A.D 

(July  15),  who  destroyed  it.  Another  fort  opposite  New 
York  was  taken  a  month  later  still  (August  19). 

During  the  summer  (August  and  September)  a  terrible 
revenge  was  taken  on  the  Iroquois  for  the  Wyoming 
General  massacres  by  General  Sullivan,  who  with  5,000 
devastates  men  Devastated  the^r  w^ole  country  between 
thcTroquois  the  Susquehannahand  Genesee rivers— covered, 
country.  we  are  ^^  w«  ^  <  pjeasant  villages  and  luxu 
riant  corn  fields  '—burning  every  village,  and  giving  no 
quarter.  At  one  village,  which  is  termed  the  '  metropolis 
of  Genesee  valley,'  no  less  than  160,000  bushels  of  corn 
were  destroyed.  The  Indians  were  pursued  as  far  as  the 
British  fort  of  Niagara,  and  Indian  agriculture  was  de 
stroyed  throughout  the  district.  The  total  American  loss 
did  not  exceed  forty  men.  The  responsibility  for  these 
cruel  measures  lies  at  Washington's  own  door.  His  in 
structions  to  General  Sullivan  (May  31)  were,  *  that  the 
country  may  not  be  merely  overrun,  but  destroyed.' 

On  the  other  hand  General  Maclean,  who  commanded 
the  British  forces  in  Nova  Scotia,  in  order  to  check 
The  British  American  incursions  into  that  province,  estab- 
in  Penobscot  lished  a  post  of  6oo  men  in  Penobscot  Bay,  in 
what  is  now  the  State  of  Maine,  but  which  then 
belonged  to  Massachusetts  (June  1779).  To  dislodge 
them  Massachusetts  sent  out  the  largest  American  arma 
ment  that  had  yet  sailed;  nineteen  armed  ships  with  300 
guns,  besides  twenty-four  transports,  and  nearly  1,000 — 
other  accounts  say  3,000 — men.  The  affair  was  a  signal 
failure,  which  the  arrival  of  Sir  George  Collier  with  a 
64-gun  ship  and  five  frigates  turned  into  a  disaster.  Two 
vessels  were  taken,  the  rest  burned  by  the  Americans 
themselves,  the  troops  and  crews  fell  to  blows,  many 
perished  in  the  woods,  and  the  country  east  of  the  Penob 
scot  became  British  territory  (July- August). 

If  the  American  Congress  failed  to  show  itself  great 


1779-  Second  Period.  165 

in  pushing  on  the  war,  it  was  much  occupied  with  settling 
the  conditions  of  the  future  peace,  at  first  with  Congress 
France  only,  afterwards  with  Spain,  when,  as  peac^com- 
we  shall  presently  see,  she  joined  the  Franco-  missioners. 
American  alliance.    Both  powers,  jealous  of  the  future  ex 
tension  of  the  republic,  wished  to  shut  her  out  from  the 
region  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  and  from  the  Newfoundland 
(isheries,  while  Spain  wanted  to  exclude  her  from  the 
navigation  of  the  Mississippi.     It  would  be  tedious  to 
dwell  on  the  negotiations ;  suffice  it  to  say  that  on  Sep 
tember   27  peace  commissioners  were   appointed — John 
Adams  for  France,  Jay  for  Spain.    Yet  a  period  nearly  as 
long  as  that  which  had  elapsed  since  the  beginning  of  the 
war  was  to  pass  away  before  peace  should  be  concluded. 

There  is  very  little  to  notice  in  Europe  during  the 
early  months  of  1779.  No  European  war  was  ever  more 
uneventful  than  was  thus  far  the  war  between  The  war  ^ 
England  and  France.  The  violent  storm  Europe  un- 
which  ushered  in  the  year  1779  ;  tne  eighty- 
four  days'  frost  which  followed  the  storm  ;  the  personal 
quarrel  between  Admiral  Keppel  and  his  second  in  com 
mand,  Palliser,  the  successive  courts-martial  on  both,  the 
riots  on  Keppel's  acquittal ;  occupied  England  till  the 
end  of  February  far  more  than  the  war  itself.  There  was 
indeed  an  inquiry  by  the  House  of  Commons  into  the 
proceedings  in  America  and  the  conduct  of  the  war  ;  but 
the  only  result  was  to  expose  Howe's  blunders,  and  on  the 
other  hand  to  whitewash  Burgoyne.  In  Ireland  volunteer 
associations  were  formed  to  replace  the  troops  sent  to 
America  ;  and  the  demands  which  they  made  for  redress 
of  grievances  began  to  excite  apprehension. 

Horace  Walpole  wrote  to  Sir  Horace  Mann   (Feb. 
25),  <  The  backwardness  of  Spain  Uas  saved  Spain's 
us.'      But    the    time    was    approaching   when  Sft^ 
she  was  to  be  drawn  into  the  struggle.     Her  to  war. 
position  and  conduct-   deserve  now  to  be    considered 


1 66      The  War  of  American  Tudependente.     A.D 

France  had  little  to  lose,  in  the  way  of  territory  at  least, 
and  everything  to  gain  in  a  war  with  a  power  like  Eng- 
Warconven-  ^anc^>  alreacty  in  conflict  with  America.  It  was 
tion  between  otherwise  with  Spain.  A  sure  instinct  told  her 

France  and       .  111  i  •  i  i        A 

Spain,  April  that  she  had  everything  to  lose  by  American 
«,  1779-  independence ;  and  that  her  vast  American  em 
pire  must  sooner  or  later  follow  the  fate  of  that  of  England. 
When,  in  January  1778,  Montmorin  the  French  ambas 
sador  read  to  the  Spanish  minister  Florida  Blanca  a  de 
spatch  announcing  the  determination  of  France  to  support 
America,  it.  is  said  that  the  Spaniard  'quivered  in  every 
limb,  and  could  hardly  utter  a  reply.7  For  months  Spain 
continued  to  reproach  France  with  engaging  in  the  war. 
But  the  possession  by  England  of  Gibraltar  and  Minorca 
was  a  double  thorn  in  the  side  of  Spain,  and  a  war  with 
England  might  enable  her  to  recover  them.  In  the  spring 
of  1778  battering  trains  were  already  being  collected  at 
Seville,  and  in  the  Bay  of  Cadiz  a  greater  fleet  was  gathered 
than  any  which  had  issued  from  Spain  since  the  Armada. 
For  another  twelvemonth,  however,  Spain  negotiated  on 
all  sides,  half-sincerely,  hair-dishonestly,  pressing  her  me 
diation  on  England,  endeavouring  in  treating  with  France 
to  cripple  the  United  States  in  the  future,  and  exact 
ing  from  both  France  and  America  impossible  conditions 
as  the  price  of  her  co-operation.  At  last  (April  12,  1779), 
a  convention  was  signed  between  France  and  Spain,  by 
which  France  undertook  to  invade  Great  Britain  or  Ireland, 
this  invasion  being  regarded  by  Spain  as  the  only  means  of 
recovering  Gibraltar.  If  Newfoundland  were  recovered, 
France  was  to  share  its  fisheries  with  Spain  alone.  She 
was  further  bound  to  use  every  effort  to  recover  for  Spain 
Minorca,  Pensacola,  Mobile,  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  the 
coast  of  Campeachy,  and  to  grant  neither  peace,  truce, 
nor  suspension  of  hostilities  till  Gibraltar  was  restored. 
Spain  was  moreover  to  be  free  to  require  from  the  United 


1779-  Second  Period.  i6y 

States  a  renunciation  of  the  whole  basin  of  the  St.  Law 
rence  and  the  lakes,  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
all  the  country  between  that  river  and  the  Alleghanies. 

Even  if  the  vast  region  in  question  had  remained  un 
occupied,  it  would  have  been  folly  for  America  to  accept 
terms  which  would  have  wholly  crippled  her  The  north- 
future  development.    But  it  was  too  late  to  pro-  western  ter- 

r          ntory  covet- 

pose  them.  America  had  been  growing  as  well  ed  by  Spain, 
as  fighting.  The  <  county  '  of  Kentucky  had  b5\S?Sck? 
been  incorporated  by  the  Virginia  legislature  as  woodsmen, 
early  as  December  1776,  George  Rogers  Clark  being  one 
of  its  first  representatives.  With  the  approval  of  Jeffer 
son  and  others,  Clark  set  out  in  June  1779  for  the  con 
quest  of  the  country  north-west  of  the  Ohio,  surprised 
Kaskaskia,  occupied  the  whole  Illinois  region,  and  after 
some  alternations  of  fortune,  compelled  the  British  lieu 
tenant-governor  with  a  handful  of  men  to  surrender  at 
Vincennes  (February  24,  1779).  Further  to  the  south, 
the  Cherokees  and  other  tribes  south  of  the  Ohio  having 
invaded  the  western  American  frontier  from  Georgia  to 
Pennsylvania,  were  crushed,  their  towns  burnt,  their 
fields  wasted,  their  cattle  driven  away  (April  1779). 
During  the  whole  of  the  year  emigration  flowed  over 
the  mountains ;  the  Cumberland  River  country,  in  what 
is  now  Tennessee,  was  occupied.  Further  south  yet, 
Natchez  had  already  been  occupied  by  a  detachment 
which  had  descended  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi.  Thus 
the  eastern  half  of  the  Mississippi  basin  was  virtually  in 
the  hands  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  when  Spain 
proposed  to  exclude  them  from  it. 

The  convention  between  France  and  Spain  was  at  first 
kept  secret,  and  it  was  not  till  June  16,  1779,  that  war 
was  actually  declared  between  England  and  Spain. 
Such  a  provocation  only  roused  the  spirit  of  king  and 
people  in  England.  The  House  of  Commons  pledged 


1 68       The  War  of  American  Independence. 


A.U 


to  the  crown  the  support  of  the  nation,  Burke  and  Fox 
joining  with  the  Tories.  Fifty  thousand  militia  were 
England  enrolled,  in  addition  to  50,000  troops.  The 
wa^with  funds  fell  only  one  per  cent.  But  there  was  a 
Spain,  but  growing  impatience  of  the  war  with  America. 

impatient  of    •**    ..  .   .,   .       ,./-,.          L  f  .        T        , 

that  with  Motions  against  it  in  different  forms,  by  Lord 
Taking's  J°^n  Cavendish  in  the  Commons,  and  by  the 
obstinacy.  Duke  of  Richmond  in  the  Lords,  received  in 
creased  support.  The  king  alone  was  obdurate.  In  his 
strange  style,  he  admitted  now  that  no  man  could  allege 
that '  the  laying  of  a  tax  was  deserving  all  the  evils  that 
have  arisen  from  it ....  without  being  thought  more  fit 
for  Bedlam  than  a  seat  in  the  senate/  But  every  man 
'  not  willing  to  sacrifice  every  object  to  a  momentary  and 
inglorious  peace/  must  concur  with  him  in  thinking  that 
England  could  <  never  submit  to '  American  independence. 
He  did  not  yet  despair  that,  with  Clinton's  activity  and 
the  Indians  in  their  rear,  the  provinces  would  soon  submit. 
Before  he  would  '  hear  of  any  man's  readiness  to  take 
office'  he  should  '  expect  to  see  it  signed  under  his  own 
hand,  that  he  is  resolved  to  keep  the  empire  entire,  and 
that  no  troops  shall  consequently  be  withdrawn  from 
thence,  nor  independence  ever  allowed  '  (June  2 1-22).  So 
he  prepared  to  face  at  once  France,  Spain,  and  America, 
and  would  only  find  fault  with  his  admirals  for  over- 
caution. 

Three  weeks  after  the  declaration  of  war,  Spain,  flying 

at  once  at  her  most  coveted  prey,  commenced  the  siege 

of  Gibraltar  (July  8).    She  was  pressing  France 

Gibraltar;     to  invade  England.     Sixty  transport  vessels  of 

bined°fleets     X6,ooo  tons  burthen   were    engaged    for  the 

in  the  Chan-  purpose.     The   Spanish  fleet  was  tardier  than 

the  French,  but  a  junction  was  at  last  effected 

off  the  coast  of  Spain,  and — bitter  sight  for  English  pride 

—the  combined  fleet,  consisting  of  nearly  seventy  ships 


1779- 


Second  Period.  1 69 


of  the  line,  cruised  up  and  down  the  Channel,  the  English 
fleet  of  thirty-eight  sail  not  being  strong  enough  to 
attack  it  (August).  It  showed  itself  off  Plymouth, 
picked  up  merchantmen,  and  even  a  blundering  English 
man-of-war  which  fancied  that  it  was  rallying  to  its 
own  flag.  But  it  did  nothing  more.  The  French  and 
Spanish  commanders  fell  out  ;  dysentery  raged  in  their 
fleets  ;  they  withdrew  to  Brest  and  then  separated.  The 
Spanish  admiral  was  ready  to  give  his  parole  never  more 
to  serve  against  England,  but  was  willing  to  serve  against 
France.  Fever  and  dysentery  ravaged  also  the  French 
camps  in  Brittany  and  Normandy,  and  the  queen,  Marie 
Antoinette,  wrote  to  her  mother  that  the  doing  of  nothing 
at  all  had  cost  France  a  great  deal  of  money. 

There  was  more  serious  work  in  the  North  Sea,  where 
Paul  Jones,  in  the  '  Bonhomme  Richard '  of  forty  guns, 
with  two  frigates  of  36  and  32  and  a  brig  of  1 2  Paul  Jones's 
guns  (one  frigate  and  the  brig  being  French),  ySt^cafe  of 
endeavoured  to  intercept  the  English  Baltic  the  war. 
fleet,  under  the  convoy  of  the  '  Serapis'  of  40,  commanded 
by  Captain  Pearson,  and  the  '  Countess  of  Scarborough,' 
of  20.  The  fight  was  desperate.  The  '  Serapis '  was  set 
on  fire,  but  silenced  the ( Bonhomme  Richard's'  guns,when 
the  frigate  '  Alliance/  one  of  her  consorts,  came  up,  and 
by  her  cross-fire  compelled  the '  Serapis '  to  strike  her  flag, 
as  did  also  her  consort.  The  '  Bonhomme  Richard/  which 
had  had  300  out  of  375  men  killed  or  wounded,  foundered 
the  next  day,  but  Paul  Jones  took  off  his  prizes  to 
Holland  (September  1779).  When  we  add  that  in  the 
West  Indies  two  islands  were  lost  to  the  French,  that  the 
Spaniards  invaded  Florida,  and  eventually  reduced  all  the 
English  settlements  on  the  Mississippi,  that  British  log- 
cutters  on  the  coast  of  Honduras  were  attacked,  and  a 
fort  taken  and  retaken ;  that  on  the  coast  of  Africa  Senegal 
was  taken  by  the  French,  and  Goree  by  the  English,  an 


170      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

idea  will  be  conceived  of  the  vast  scale  on  which  hostilities 
were  carried  on.  We  must  also  remember  that  in  India  a 
Mahratta  war  was  proceeding,  and  the  most  formidable 
league  being  formed  which  the  English  had  yet  had  to 
encounter,— one  between  Hyder  Ali,  the  Mahrattas,  and 
the  Nizam,  in  whose  service  were  able  French  officers. 

Let  us  now  return  to  the  Southern  United  States,  which 
were  now  the  chief  focus  of  the  war.  On  September  i, 
Failure  of  1 779,  the  French  Admiral  d'Estaing  appeared 

Ind  Amnech  from  the  West  Indies  off  the  coast  of  Georgia, 
"cans  before  with  thirty-three  vessels,  surprising  four  English 
OctSwg,  ships  of  war.  By  the  loth  the  French  troops 
had  landed  before  Savannah,  but  they  were  not 
enough  to  invest  the  town,  and  it  was  not  till  the  23rd  that 
General  Lincoln  was  able  to  join  them.  In  the  meanwhile 
the  garrison  of  Beaufort  had  succeeded  in  reaching  Sa 
vannah  across  the  swamps.  The  French  fleet  dreaded  the 
autumnal  gales,  and  after  cannonading  the  town  for  five 
days  (October  4-9),  an  assault  was  decided  on.  It  failed 
disastrously.  The  French  and  Americans  lost  at  least  800 
men — inflicting  very  slight  loss  in  return.  D'Estaing  was 
wounded  twice,  and  the  gallant  Pole,  Pulaski,  was  mortally 
wounded  (October  1-9).  D'Estaing  refused  to  renew  the 
attack,  and  drew  off  with  his  fleet  and  troops.  Lincoln 
withdrew  to  Charleston  with  the  remnant  of  his  army,  and 
the  South  Carolina  militia  went  home.  A  somewhat 
ludicrous  success  which  the  Americans  gained  in  the 
partisan  warfare  which  was  being  waged  in  Georgia  may 
be  considered  worthy  of  mention.  The  scene  of  the  in 
cident  was  the  Ogechee  river,  where  Captain  French  was 
posted  with  one  hundred  men  and  a  squadron  of  five 
vessels,  four  of  which  were  armed.  Colonel  White,  of  the 
Georgia  line,  with  one  officer  and  four  men,  by  kindling 
fires  in  different  places  along  the  bank  and  laying  out  a 
large  encampment,  led  Captain  French  to  suppose  that 


1  779  So.  Second  Period.  I  ?  I 

he  was  at  the  head  of  a  large  force,  and  by  this  means 
actually  obtained  the  surrender  of  the  entire  squadron. 
This  feat  certainly  rivals  that  of  the  Irishman  who  related 
that  he  captured  three  prisoners  single-handed  <  by  sur 
rounding  them/ 

In  order  to  push  on  the  war  more  vigorously  in  the 
south,  Rhode  Island  was  now  evacuated  (October  1779),  and 
the  troops  from  thence  joined  Sir  H.  Clinton's 


army  in  New  York,  which  had  itself  received  island  «va- 

3  .         cuated  by 

some  reinforcements  from   Europe.      Leaving  the  British  ; 


General  Kniphausen  in  command  in  New  York, 
Clinton  embarked  8,500  men  (December  26),     .. 

.  JJ  m.  f  i  and  South 

tor  Tybee  in  Georgia,  as  a  place  of  rendezvous  Carolina 
for  an  attack  on  Charleston.  Bad  sailing,  bad  subdued- 
weather,  and  privateers  hindered  or  damaged  the  expe 
dition.  Nothing  was  ready  before  the  end  of  January,  nor 
did  the  British  troops  come  in  sight  of  Charleston  before 
February  26.  But  Lincoln,  drawing  all  disposable  forces 
into  the  town  —  a  course  of  conduct  of  which  Washington 
'dreaded  the  event  '  —  allowed  himself  to  be  caught  as  in 
a  trap.  The  town  was  untenable,  the  inhabitants  were 
disaffected  almost  to  a  man.  On  May  1  2  he  capitulated, 
surrendering  4  frigates,  400  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  large 
number  of  prisoners,  the  militia  being  allowed  to  return 
home  on  parole.  Clinton  went  back  to  New  York,  leaving 
5,000  men  with  Lord  Cornwallis,  who  was  invested  with 
a  separate  command,  besides  1,000  men  in  Georgia.  By 
the  end  of  June  1780  Lord  Cornwallis  reported  that  all 
resistance  was  at  an  end  in  Georgia.  But  the  severe 
measures  taken  by  the  British  commanders,  including  a 
proclamation  which  required  all  the  inhabitants  to  give 
actual  assistance  to  the  royal  cause,  as  well  as  frequent 
confiscations,  especially  of  slaves,  alienated  the  people 
more  and  more. 

The  winter  of  1779-80,  strange  to  say,  was  worse  foi 


1,72      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

the  main  army  under  Washington  than  the  previous  one. 
The  winter  itself  was  early  and  unusually  rigorous.  The 
Americans  were  more  and  more  disposed  to  throw  the  bur 
then  of  the  war  on  their  allies.  Gerard,  the  French  minister 
Another  m  America,  did  not  fear  to  express  to  his  own 
gloomy  court  his  regret  that  Spain  should  have  joined 

winter  for        .       ,  *.  J 

Washington,  in  the  war,  since  '  just  in  proportion  as  acces- 
Supmeness  3^ons  to  tne  means  of  opposing  the  enemy  were 
oftheAme-  afforded  by  foreign  powers,  the  Americans 
became  inactive  and  backward  in  their  own 
efforts'  (September  10,  1779).  The  revolution  seemed 
bankrupt.  There  were  200  millions  of  paper  dollars  in 
circulation,  but  forty  paper  dollars  were  worth  only  one  in 
specie  ;  a  pair  of  boots  cost  600  dollars.  In  the  early  part 
of  January  the  troops,  both  officers  and  men,  were  for  a 
fortnight  almost  perishing  for  want  of  bread  and  meat,  the 
whole  time  with  a  very  scanty  allowance  of  either,  and 
frequently  destitute  of  both/  The  men  began  to  plunder 
on  their  own  account,  and  a  scheme  by  which  the  several 
States  were  to  furnish  specific  quantities  of  certain  sup 
plies,  to  be  repaid  by  Congress,  utterly  broke  down.  Wash 
ington  had  again  to  seize  provisions.  A  kind  of  strike 
was  threatened  by  a  number  of  officers,  who  declared  that 
they  must  resign  by  a  given  day  unless  they  could  be  better 
provided  for.  Washington  wrote  (April  3,  1780),  'There 
never  has  been  a  stage  of  the  war  in  which  the  dissatisfac 
tion  has  been  so  general  or  alarming/  A  committee  of 
Congress  reported  that  the  army  was  unpaid  for  five 
months,  that  it  seldom  had  more  than  six  days'  provisions 
in  advance,  and  was  on  several  occasions  for  successive 
days  without  meat ;  that  every  department  of  the  army  was 
without  money, and  had  not  even  the  shadow  of  credit  left ; 
and  that  the  patience  of  the  soldiers  was  on  the  point  o* 
being  exhausted.  A  mutiny  in  the  Connecticut  regiments 
was  only  with  difficulty  suppressed.  In  the  first  week  in 


1 779-80.  Second  Period.  173 

June  Washington  had  only  3,760  men  fit  for  duty.  Not  a 
recruit  could  be  obtained  for  six  months  for  less  than  100 
hard  dollars.  La  Fayette  indeed,  who  had  returned  to 
France  to  obtain  further  aid,  came  back  in  April,  an 
nouncing  the  speedy  arrival  of  a  French  fleet  with  troops, 
in  two  divisions.  When  in  July  the  first  division  of 
6,000  men  under  Count  de  Rochambeau  came  into  New 
port  harbour,  Rhode  Island,  Washington  had  neither 
men  nor  supplies  to  co-operate  with  them.  The  second 
division  never  appeared,  being  blockaded  in  Brest,  and 
a  new  British  fleet  ere  long  blockaded  the  first  in  New 
port.  At  a  time  when  Washington  was  empowered  by 
Congress  to  carry  on  his  operations  beyond  the  limits 
of  the  United  States,  so  as  to  act  in  concert  with  the 
French  and  Spanish  in  the  West  Indies,  he  was  reduced 
'  to  the  painful  alternative  either  of  dismissing  a  part 
of  the  militia  now  assembling  ...  or  letting  them 
come  forward  to  starve.'  On  January  i  following,  one 
half  of  his  present  forces  would  dissolve,  and  '  the 
shadow  of  an  army  that  would  remain  would  have  every 
motive,  except  mere  patriotism,  to  abandon  the  service.' 
If  ' either  the  temper  or  the  resources  of  the  country' 
would  not  admit  of  an  alteration,  they  might  '  expect 
soon  to  be  reduced  to  the  humiliating  condition  of  seeing 
the  cause  of  America,  in  America,  upheld  by  foreign 
anus/  If  'something  satisfactory' were  not  done,  '  the 
army  (already  so  much  reduced  in  officers  by  daily 
resignations  as  not  to  have  a  sufficiency  to  do  the 
common  duties  of  it)  must  either  cease  to  exist  at  the 
end  of  a  campaign/  or  would  ( exhibit  an  example  of 
more  virtue,  fortitude,  self-denial,  and  perseverance'  than 
had  l  perhaps  ever  yet  been  paralleled  in  the  history 
of  human  enthusiasm/  Nothing  on  the  other  hand  was 
done  on  the  English  side  beyond  an  incursion  into  New 

Jersey. 


1/4      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

It  was  on  the  seas  that  the  war  was  now  the  most 
active.    A  great  seaman  had  appeared  on  the 

The  war  at      _       ...        .  ,          _,_.  .  .  .       _ 

sea;  English   side.     When    the  war  with    France 

Rodney.  broke  out  in  1778  Admiral  Rodney  was  in 
Paris.  He  wished  to  return  to  England,  but  his  creditors 
would  not  let  him  go.  Those  were,  however,  the  days 
when  war  had  its  chivalry.  An  old  French  marshal,  De 
Biron,  lent  him  1,000  louis  to  free  himself.  He  placed 
his  services  at  the  disposal  of  the  Admiralty,  but  his  poli 
tics  were  not  those  of  the  ministry ;  for  a  twelvemonth  he 
could  get  no  employment.  At  last  (October  i,  1779)  ne 
was  appointed  commander-in-chief  on  the  Leeward 
Islands  and  Barbadoes  station,  but  with  instructions  in 
the  first  instance  to  relieve  Gibraltar.  He  put  to  sea  three 
days  before  the  New  Year,  one  of  the  king's  sons,  after 
wards  King  William  IV.,  serving  on  board  his  fleet  as 
midshipman.  On  January  8  he  took  a  Spanish  merchant 
fleet  of  15  sail,  with  7  vessels  of  war.  On  the  i6th,  oft 
Cape  St.  Vincent,  he  defeated  the  Spanish  admiral 
Langara,  taking  or  destroying  7  out  of  1 1  ships  of  the 
line,  then  relieved  successively  Gibraltar  and  Minorca, 
and  sailed  for  the  West  Indies.  Here  his  success  was 
for  the  time  less  brilliant.  He  engaged  the  French  fleet 
under  Count  de  Guichen  more  than  once  (April  and 
May),  but  some  of  his  officers  failed  to  support  him  suf 
ficiently,  and  the  actions  were  indecisive,  nor  did  he 
succeed  in  preventing  the  junction  of  the  French  and 
Spanish  fleets  (June).  But  nothing  came  of  this  junction. 
Again  the  two  admirals  disagreed ;  again  disease  broke 
out  in  the  fleets;  again  they  separated,  the  Spanish 
ships  returning  to  Havana,  the  French  to  France.  Rodney 
sailed  for  the  coast  of  North  America  to  co-operate  with 
Sir  Henry  Clinton. 

Nelson  in  An  abortive  and  insane  operation  of  the  years 
America.  1779-80  on  the  British  side  deserves  to  be  men- 


Second  Period.  175 

tioned  for  the  sake  of  the  post-captain  who  led  it.  A 
party  of  troops  was  sent  to  cross  Central  America  by  the 
river  San  Juan  and  the  lakes  Nicaragua  and  Leon  into 
the  Pacific,  on  board  the  *  Hinchinbroke.'  The  mission 
of  Post-Captain  Nelson  ended  at  the  San  Juan  River ; 
but  as  there  was  no  one  capable  of  directing  the  expedi 
tion,  he  went  up  the  river  and  took  12  forts,  but  was 
beaten  back  by  the  deadly  climate,  scarcely  300  men  out 
of  1, 800  surviving  to  return,  and  his  own  health  being  for 
the  time  wholly  shattered. 

Meanwhile  another  belligerent  was  being  dragged  into 
the  fray.  Of  all  the  neutral  powers,  Holland— or,  to  speak 
more  correctly,  the  Netherlands — was  the  one  _  " 

.  .         England  s 

whose  trade  was  the  most  extensive,  and  which  quarrel  with 
consequently  profited  most  through  the  war,  on  Holland- 
the  one  hand  by  the  opening  of  the  American  ports  to 
trade,  on  the  other  by  fetching  and  carrying  for  the  belli 
gerents.  England  had  early  sought  to  engage  Holland 
in  the  war  on  her  side,  on  the  plea  of  old  treaty  engage 
ments,  which  the  Dutch  did  not  admit  to  be  applicable. 
The  English  claim  of  a  right  to  search  neutral  vessels  for 
the  enemy's  goods,  and  the  wide  interpretation  she  gave 
to  the  term  l  naval  stores '  viewed  as  contraband  of  war, 
pressed  hardly  on  Dutch  trade.  On  the  other  hand  the 
shelter  given  in  Dutch  ports  to  Paul  Jones  and  to  his  prizes 
was  made  a  ground  of  bitter  complaint  by  the  English. 
In  spite  of  these  complaints,  he  was  allowed  to  leave  the 
Texel  with  his  prizes  (December  27).  Four  days  later  a 
Dutch  merchant  fleet,  proceeding  to  Brest  under  the  con 
voy  of  five  Dutch  ships  of  war,  was  stopped  in  the  Channel 
by  an  English  squadron  under  Captain  Fielding,  who 
claimed  to  search  the  traders.  This  was  refused,  and  a 
shallop  sent  for  the  purpose  was  fired  upon.  Hereupon 
the  English  fired  into  the  flagship,  which,  after  returning  a 
broadside,  struck  her  colours,  and  those  of  the  merchant- 


\j6     The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D 

men  that  failed  to  escape  were  taken  into  Portsmouth.  A 
few  months  later  the  existing  freedom  of  trade  between 
England  and  Holland  was  temporarily  suspended,  but 
it  was  not  till  nearly  the  end  of  the  year  that  war  was 
actually  declared. 

The  capture  of  the  Dutch  fleet,  however,  together  with 
that  of  two  Russian  merchantmen  by  Spain,  helped  on  a 
The  armed  measure  to  which  Frederick  of  Prussia  had  for 
neutrality.  SOme  time  been  urging  the  Empress  of  Russia, 
and  which,  though  nominally  directed  against  all  the  bel 
ligerents,  told  especially  against  England,  viz.  the  forma 
tion  of  the  '  armed  neutrality/  On  March  8  Russia  issued 
a  declaration,  laying  down  certain  principles  (some  of 
which,  though  not  all,  have  been  in  our  days  acceded  to 
by  England  herself),  viz.  the  free  navigation  of  neutral 
ships,  even  from  port  to  port  on  a  belligerent  coast; 
freedom  of  all  goods  on  free  ships,  contraband  of  war  only 
excepted;  limitation  of  contraband  of  war  to  arms  and 
ammunition;  effectual  blockades.  To  maintain  these 
principles  the  empress  armed  her  fleets,  and  invited 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Portugal,  and  the  Netherlands  to  join 
with  her.  Before  any  of  the  four  states  so  invited  had 
replied  to  the  invitation,  two  of  the  belligerents,  Spain 
and  France,  had  eagerly  accepted  the  principles  of  the 
declaration  (April  1780),  in  doing  which  they  were  fol 
lowed  by  Prussia.  Thus  encouraged,  Denmark  and 
Sweden  entered  into  treaties  for  mutual  support  with 
Russia.  Before  the  end  of  the  year  the  Emperor  came 
in,  the  United  States  having  also  accepted  the  principles 
of  the  Russian  declaration  in  October. 

In  England  itself  some  singular  events  had  occurred. 
During  the  recess  two  of  the  ministers,  Lords  Weymouth 
and  Gower,  resigned,  the  latter,  at  least,  on  account  of 
disagreement  with  his  colleagues  on  the  American  ques 
tion,  and  Lord  North  was  always  pressing  for  leave  to 


1779-8°*  Second  Period.  \^^ 

follow  their  example.     Overtures  were  made,  but  in  vain, 
to  Lords  Camden  and   Shelburne  to  join  the  _ 

J    -  .  Ireland  :  the 

ministry.    The  opposition  was  fast  becoming  a  Yorkshire 
united  party.  Parliament  met  on  November  25, 


1779.  The  state  of  Ireland  was  beginning  to  tan^t  Associa- 
cause  great  disquiet;  60,000  volunteers  were  Lord  George 
in  arms.  Perfect  tranquillity  prevailed;  but  Gordon- 
non-importation  agreements  against  England  had  been 
entered  into,  and  an  address  of  the  Irish  parliament  to 
the  crown  for  freedom  of  trade  and  other  matters  had 
been  carried,  and  had  been  followed  by  a  vote  of  sup 
ply  limited  to  six  months  (November  15).  The  king's 
speech  did  not  mention  America,  but  congratulated  the 
country  on  the  failure  of  the  French  and  Spanish  attempt 
at  invasion,  and  called  attention  to  the  state  of  Ireland. 
Lord  North  admitted  that  the  policy  hitherto  pursued 
towards  Ireland  had  been  misjudged,  and  his  speech 
foreshadowed  further  concessions,  beyond  some  trifling 
ones  granted  in  the  last  two  sessions,  both  to  Irish  trade 
generally  and  to  Roman  Catholics  as  such.  The  ap 
prehensions  of  the  anti-Romish  party  seem  to  have  been 
violently  excited  by  this  course  of  conduct.  On  the  other 
hand  the  classes  which  till  now  had  supported  the 
ministry  were  getting  tired  of  the  war.  On  December  30, 
at  a  meeting  of  600  gentlemen  whose  collective  fortune 
was  said  to  be  larger  than  that  of  the  whole  House  oi 
Commons,  a  committee  of  sixty-one  members,  known  as 
the  Yorkshire  Committee,  was  appointed  by  the  county 
of  York  to  petition  parliament  and  form  an  association 
for  financial  and  parliamentary  reform.  Corresponding 
committees  were  formed  in  other  counties  and  cities, 
including  the  city  of  London.  Side  by  side  with 
these  were  formed  other  associations,  in  Scotland  as 
well  as  in  England,  against  further  concessions  to  the 
Roman  Catholics.  The  two  movements  seem  not  to 
have  been  clearly  distinguished  by  outsiders,  and  may 

M.  //,  N 


178     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

indeed  often  have  run  into  one.  Thus  it  is  difficult  from 
Walpole's  letters  of  January  and  February  1780  to 
discern  whether,  in  speaking  of  associations  and  '  orders 
under  the  title  of  petitions/  he  means  those  of  the  financial 
and  parliamentary  reformers,  or  of  the  anti-popery  men. 
At  any  rate  the  associations  of  the  latter  were  organized 
into  one  as  the  l  Protestant  Association.'  Its  president 
was  Lord  George  Gordon,  a  half-crazy  M.P.,  who,  obtaining 
an  interview  from  the  king  towards  the  end  of  January, 
read  to  him  for  an  hour  out  of  a  pamphlet  he  had  written, 
and  when  it  became  too  dark,  left  only  on  a  promise  that 
the  king  would  finish  reading  it  himself.  In  the  early 
days  of  February  there  were  already  anti-popery  riots, 
in  Scotland. 

By  February  6  petitions  had  come  in  from  over  twenty 
counties,  besides  several  towns.  On  the  8th  Burke  pre- 
Burke's  plan  sented  a  plan  f°r  economic  reform,  to  include 
of  Economic  a  diminution  of  the  influence  of  the  crown. 

Jxeform  ;  /-\         •»  *•        i  i  i    /•  it  •• 

Dunning's  On  March  13  he  defeated  the  ministry, 
resolution.  On  April  6  Dunning  brought  forward  in 

committee  a  celebrated  resolution,  'that  it  is  the 
opinion  of  this  committee  that  the  influence  of  the 
crown  has  increased,  is  increasing,  and  ought  to  be 
diminished/  and  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  carried  it 
by  a  majority  of  48,  whilst  another  resolution  as  to 
the  competency  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  correct 
abuses  in  the  civil  list  passed  also.  But  ministers,  instead 
of  throwing  up  office,  obtained  an  adjournment  of  the 
House,  and  by  April  24,  when  it  met  again,  its  temper 
had  changed.  A  new  motion  of  Dunning's,  against  pro 
rogation  or  dissolution  until  the  demands  of  the  peti 
tioners  were  satisfied,  was  rejected  by  254  to  203. 

The  parliamentary  warfare  went  on  with  diminishing 
excitement,  when  suddenly  the  strangest  event  of  the 
century  enforced  a  temporary  truce  of  parties,  namely, 


1780.  Second  Period.  179 

the  London  No-popery  or  Lord  George  Gordon  riots,  last* 
ing  from  Friday,  June  2,  to  Thursday,  June  8,  The  London 
until  the  last  two  days  of  which  time  London  ^07f°j^ 
was  left  virtually  without  resistance  in  the  hands  2-8/1780. 
of  the  mob,  which  destroyed  chapels  and  houses  at  their 
will,  stormed  Newgate,  attacked  the  Bank,  though 
without  taking  any  lives,  and  were  at  last  put  down 
only  by  a  large  force  of  soldiers  and  militia,  with  terrible 
slaughter  ;  285  civilians  were  killed  or  died  of  their 
wounds,  and  173  were  taken,  seriously  wounded,  to  the 
hospitals,  besides  those  that  perished  in  the  flames  of  the 
numerous  fires  or  were  carried  home  to  their  friends. 
The  total  loss  of  property  was  said  to  be  i8o,ooo/.  The 
next  day  Lord  George  Gordon  was  committed  to  the 
Tower  on  a  charge  of  treason.  Similar  riots  were  being 
attempted  in  Bath,  Bristol,  and  Hull,  but  were  checked 
everywhere  by  the  magistrates.  On  the  iQth  parliament 
met,  after  having  adjourned  in  consequence  of  the  riots. 
Resolutions  were  passed  refusing  to  repeal  the  act  for  the 
relief  of  Roman  Catholics.  On  July  6  those  of  the  rioters 
who  had  been  arrested  were  brought  to  trial.  *  They  are/ 
wrote  Walpole,  '  apprentices,  women,  a  black  girl,  and 
two  or  three  escaped  convicts.  And  these  Catilines,  with 
out  plan,  plot,  connection,  or  object,  threw  a  million  of 
inhabitants  into  consternation,  burned  their  houses  about 
their  ears,  besieged  the  parliament,  drove  it  to  adjourn 
for  ten  days,  and  have  saddled  the  capital  with  10,000 
men.'  Out  of  those  that  were  tried  sixty  were  found 
guilty ;  forty  were  sentenced  to  death,  and  twenty  of 
them  executed  ;  the  rest  were  transported.  Lord  George 
Gordon,  however,  who  was  tried  in  the  early  part  of  the 
following  year,  was  acquitted.  He  eventually  became  a 
Jew,  and  died  of  gaol  fever  whilst  in  prison  for  libel. 
The  No-popery  riots,  occurring  as  they  did  in  the  midst 


i  So      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

of  a  war  with  three  enemies  at  once,  whilst  a  fourth  was 
Spanish  ne-  being  provoked  into  hostility,  and  almost  all  the 
stoppeTby  remainder  of  the  European  powers  were  arming, 
the  riots.  virtually  against  England,  on  the  plea  of  neu 
trality,  show  how  comparatively  indifferent  that  war  really 
was  to  a  large  body  of  the  English  people.  Yet  the  riots 
helped  to  prolong  it.  Spain  had  no  sooner  got  into 
the  war  than  she  was  anxious  to  get  out  of  it.  She  had 
been  negotiating  since  November  1779.  If  she  could 
only  recover  Gibraltar,  she  was  ready  to  cede  Porto 
Rico  and  Oran,  to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  pledge 
herself  not  to  help  France.  But  the  No-popery  riots  raised 
the  angriest  feelings  both  in  the  Spanish  king  and  people, 
and  peace  was  further  off  again.  At  home,  too,  the  riots 
both  dispirited  and  again  divided  the  opposition. 

In  America  the  South  continued  throughout  the  year 
1780  to  be   the     chief,  if  not  the   only  seat  of  active 
warfare.      In   South    Carolina,   as   has    been 
stated,  resistance  was  at  an  end.    But  refugees 


Una;  battle    from  tnat  State  in  North  Carolina,  who  had 

of  Camden  .  .,11 

(August  16.  formed  themselves  into  a  partisan  band  under 
1780).  Colonel  Sumpter,  previously  in  command  of  a 

continental  regiment,  began  with  some  success  a  guerrilla 
warfare.  A  surprise  by  him  of  a  British  post  at  Hang 
ing  Rock  (August  6)  may  be  noticed,  on  account  of  the 
presence  in  his  ranks  of  a  boy  of  thirteen,  who  was  to  be 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  presidents  of  the  United 
States,—  Andrew  Jackson.  Meanwhile  forces  were  being 
sent  from  the  north,  Washington  detaching  De  Kalb  with 
nearly  3,000  men,  Virginia  sending  militiamen  and  arms, 
till  at  last  General  Gates,  who  was  placed  in  the  indepen 
dent  command  of  the  forces,  found  himself  at  the  head  of 
a  '  grand  army/  as  he  termed  it,  which  outnumbered  the 
British.  He  met  Lords  Cornwallis  and  Rawdon  at 
Camden.  The  day  was  disastrous  to  the  Americans. 
The  Virginia  militia  threw  down  their  arms  and  made 


1 780.  Second  Period.  1 8 1 

for  the  woods  'with  such  speed  that  not  more  than 
three  of  them  were  killed  or  wounded/  The  North 
Carolina  militia,  a  few  excepted,  did  the  same,  so  that 
'  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  army  fled  without  firing  a  shot. 
Only  Washington's  Maryland  and  Delaware  troops  held 
their  ground,  and  De  Kalb's  division  in  particular  had  the 
advantage  till  the  last.  The  American  loss,  according  to 
British  accounts,  was  2,000  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
prisoners.  The  whole  of  the  artillery  (eight  field-pieces) 
was  taken,  and  almost  all  the  baggage.  The  whole  army 
was  dispersed,  all  but  one  hundred  continentals,  who 
were  led  off  through  the  swamps.  De  Kalb  had  been 
mortally  wounded,  and  died  after  three  days.  The 
Americans,  General  Gates  foremost,  fled  as  far  as 
Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  and  Gates  himself  pushed  on 
to  Hillsborough,  where  the  North  Carolina  legislature 
was  about  to  meet,  riding  more  than  200  miles  in  three 
days  and  a  half.  There  now  remained  only  Sumpter, 
who  had  been  detached  before  the  battle  with  800  men 
to  cut  off  a  British  convoy,  and  had  succeeded  in  his 
errand.  He  was  in  turn  surprised  by  Colonel  Tarleton, 
who,  with  one  hundred  dragoons  and  sixty  light  infantry, 
cut  his  corps  to  pieces,  taking  two  or  three  hundred 
prisoners,  killing  or  wounding  150,  and  recovering  all 
the  captures.  Four  days  after  the  battle  of  Camden, 
Sumpter  rode  into  Charlotte  alone,  bareheaded,  on  a 
horse  barebacked. 

But  the  tide  was  now  on  the  turn.  Lord  Cornwallis's 
severities  once  more  irritated  the  people.  Par-  Cornwall's 
tisan  bands  under  Tames  Williams,  Marion,  march  into 

.      0J  .  .      '   North  Caro- 

and  ere  long  again  Sumpter,  kept  up  a  warfare  Una  checked 
of  surprises.     Through  Marion's  influence,  ac-  ^JJ^S 
cording  to  Lord  Cornwallis  himself,  there  was  Greene  in 
scarcely  an  inhabitant  between  the  Pedee  and 
the  Santee,  who  was  not  in  arms  against  the  British,  and 


1 82     The  War  of  A  merican  independence.     A.D, 

almost  the  whole  country  seemed  on  the  eve  of  a  revolt 
Lord  Cornwallis  nevertheless  began  in  September  his 
march  into  North  Carolina,  hoping  for  aid  from  the 
loyalists  there.  Detaching  Major  Ferguson  to  the  high 
land  country,  he  pressed  on  to  Charlotte,  and  from  thence 
towards  Salisbury.  But  on  his  way  the  tidings  reached 
him  of  a  serious  reverse  which  had  befallen  Major  Fer 
guson.  With  a  force  of  1,125  men,  of  whom  125  only 
were  regulars,  he  had  been  attacked  at  King's  Mountain, 
by  one  of  Virginians  and  North  Carolinians,  defeated, 
himself  killed,  and  the  whole  force  obliged  to  surrender, 
648  being  made  prisoners,  besides  456  killed  and 
wounded  (October  7).  Cornwallis  now  fell  back  into 
South  Carolina,  harassed  on  his  way  by  the  militia 
and  by  the  peasantry,  whilst  Marion  and  Sumpter  were 
intercepting  supplies  and  surprising  posts.  At  Black- 
stock  Sumpter  won  from  Tarleton  a  return  match.  Re 
lying  on  previous  successes,  before  his  light  infantry 
could  come  up,  he  dashed  with  250  horsemen  up  a  hill 
side  at  Sumpter's  superior  force.  This  time  the  Ameri 
cans  held  their  own.  The  English  63rd  lost  its  com 
manding  officer  and  two  lieutenants,  with  one  third  of  its 
privates,  and  Tarleton  had  to  retreat,  leaving  his  wounded 
behind.  But  Sumpter  himself  was  severely  wounded 
(November  20).  Of  far  more  consequence  than  any  par 
tisan  success  to  the  American  cause  was  the  appointment 
of  Greene  in  place  of  Gates  to  the  command  of  the  forces 
south  of  the  Delaware,  but  this  time  l  subject  to  the 
control  of  the  commander-in-chief '  (October  30).  Wash 
ington  had  originally  recommended  him  for  the  post 
when  Gates  was  appointed,  and  there  seems  reason  to 
think  that  he  was  Washington's  favourite  officer.  None 
certainly  ever  showed  more  of  his  great  commander's 
spirit. 

In   the  north  but  little  was  doing.    Incursions  had 


1780.  Second  Period.  183 

been  made  into  New  York  from  Canada,  two  American 
forts  had  been  taken,  much  grain  destroyed,  and  Little  doing 
British  parties  had  pushed  on  almost  to  Sara-  in  the  north- 
toga.  Some  correspondence  was  also  going  on,  much  to 
Washington's  anxiety,  between  the  leaders  in  Vermont, 
which  Congress  still  refused  to  acknowledge  as  separate 
from  New  York,  and  the  British  authorities.  Otherwise 
Washington  and  Clinton  continued  watching  each  other, 
each  too  weak,  or  deeming  himself  so,  for  successful 
offensive  warfare.  But  a  new  danger  now  threatened  the 
American  cause. 

There  was  no  braver  soldier  in  the  American  ranks 
than  Benedict  Arnold,  the  hero  of  the  Canadian  cam 
paign,  the  real  victor  at  Still  water.  Placed  in  A^J^,. 
command  at  Philadelphia  after  the  evacuation  geason,^ 
of  the  city  by  the  British,  he  irritated  the 
people  by  an  overbearing  manner  and  various  arbitrary 
proceedings,  gave  way  to  extravagance,  sank  into  debt, 
involved  himself  still  further  through  disastrous  specu 
lations,  and  resorted,  it  is  said,  to  fraud  and  peculation. 
Charges  were  brought  against  him  by  the  Executive 
Council  of  Pennsylvania,  and  laid  before  Congress.  A 
committee,  appointed  to  report  on  the  case,  acquitted  him 
except  as  to  two  charges,  but  four  were  eventually  sent 
on  to  the  commander-in-chief,  and  on  these  Arnold  was 
tried  by  court-martial  (Dec.  4,  I779~jan.  26,  1780).  On 
two  he  was  acquitted,  but  he  was  found  guilty  of  having 
illegally  granted  a  passport  to  a  vessel,  and  of  having 
used  some  public  waggons  for  private  purposes.  By  order 
of  the  court  he  was  publicly  reprimanded  by  Washing 
ton.  Whilst  his  trial  was  proceeding,  his  accounts 
during  his  Canada  command  were  also  passing  through 
committee  in  Congress.  These  were  found  confused 
and  irregular,  and  large  deductions  were  reported. 
Deeming  himself  ill-used,  he  appealed  in  vain  against  the 


184     The  War  of  A  merican  Independence.      A.  t>, 

decision.  Mortification  and  chagrin  turned  him  into  a 
traitor.  He  began  writing  anonymously  to  Sir  Henry 
Clinton.  Eighteen  months  later,  having  obtained  the 
command  at  West  Point,  the  most  important  post  of  any 
on  the  American  side,  he  offered  to  Sir  Henry  to  hand 
over  to  the  British  both  West  Point  and  other  posts 
in  the  highlands.  Whilst  Washington  had  gone  to 
Hartford  to  meet  the  French  commander,  Major  Andre*, 
adjutant-general  of  the  British  army,  was  sent  up  the 
Hudson  in  the l  Vulture'  sloop  of  war  to  confer  with  Arnold. 
Terms  were  settled  ;  Arnold  was  to  receive  io,ooo/.  and 
a  brigadier-generalship.  Plans  of  West  Point,  and  a 
statement  of  its  condition,  were  given  to  Andre*,  who  hid 
them  in  his  stockings.  But  meanwhile  the  '  Vulture'  had 
been  compelled  to  change  her  position.  Andre*  could  no 
longer  be  carried  on  board,  and  had  to  return  to  New 
York  on  foot,  with  a  pass  from  Arnold  under  the  name 
of  John  Anderson.  Almost  within  sight  of  the  British 
lines  he  was  stopped  by  three  militiamen,  whom  he  tried 
in  vain  to  bribe,  was  searched,  and  on  the  discovery  of 
the  compromising  papers  taken  to  the  nearest  American 
post.  On  learning  his  capture,  Arnold  hastily  escaped 
in  his  barge  to  the '  Vulture '  (September  25, 1780).  Andre*, 
as  soon  as  he  knew  that  Arnold  was  safe,  declared  his 
real  name  and  rank.  Tried  by  court-martial  as  a  spy, 
he  defended  himself,  declaring  that  he  could  be  no  spy, 
as  he  had  entered  the  lines  under  a  flag  of  truce  on 
the  invitation  of  an  American  general — a  specious  but 
scarcely  tenable  plea.  He  was  found  guilty,  and  could  not 
even  obtain  the  privilege  of  being  shot  instead  of  hanged. 
Though  the  justice  of  his  sentence  can  hardly  be  denied, 
his  execution  (October  2,  1780)  was  useless,  and  is  one  of 
the  few  blots  on  Washington's  fair  fame.  He  lies  now  in 
Westminster  Abbey.  Arnold,  though  he  never  fulfilled 
his  share  of  the  contract,  received  his  reward,  and  at  the 


1780-1.  Second  Period.  185 

head  of  a  legion  of  loyalists  and  deserters  did,  as  we  shall 
see,  some  damage  to  his  former  country ;  but  he  never 
distinguished  himself  again,  and  remained  for  all  future 
time  '  the  traitor  Arnold/  For  the  gallant  young  victim  of 
his  treason,  Andre*,  universal  sympathy  has  ever  been  fell 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

Not  much  was  done  in  the  war  during  the  year  1780 
elsewhere  than  in  America,  except  in  India,  where  Hyder 
Ali  inflicted  a  severe  defeat  on  Colonel  Baillie,  The  war  in 
and  might  have  taken  Madras  had  he  pursued  India  and  at 
his  enemy.  British  trade  was  seriously  damaged  s< 
through  the  capture  not  only  of  the  Quebec  fleet  by  the 
Americans,  but  of  the  East  and  West  India  fleets  by 
the  Spaniards,  who  took  them  into  Cadiz  with  2,865 
prisoners.  The  capture  of  a  dozen  French  merchantmen 
from  St.  Domingo  was  a  poor  set-off  to  such  losses. 

Parliament  had  been  dissolved  on  September  i,  and  the 
new  parliament  had  met  on  October  31.  The  new  members 
were  as  many  as  1 13  in  number,  and  among  them  were  the 
younger  Pitt,  Sheridan,  and  Wilberforce.  The  ministers 
were  at  first  triumphant.  The  great  event  of  the  autumn 
was  the  declaration  of  war  against  Holland  (De- 
cember  20),  which  followed  the  accession  of  the  Parliament ; 
latter  to  the  armed  neutrality.  'This  good  town/  Holland1  de- 
wrote  Horace  Walpole  from  London,  to  Mason,  dared,  Dec. 
January  4,  1781, 'is  quite  happy, for  it  has  gotten  3° 
anew  plaything,  a  Dutch  war,  and  the  folks  who  are  to  gain 
by  privateering  have  persuaded  those  who  are  to  pay  the 
piper  to  dance  for  joy.'  Burke's  plan  of  economical  reform 
was  again  brought  forward  and  again  rejected. 

An  attack  upon  Jersey  by  the  French  in  the  early 
part  of  the  year  was  easily  beaten  off.    Spain  was  pressing 
on  the  siege  of  Gibraltar.     She  had  prevailed  -Ilie  war  ^ 
on  the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  from  whose  green  Europe,  1781. 
hills  the  town  then,  as  now,  was  mainly  victualled,  to 


1  86     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

refuse  supplies,  and  scurvy  had  begun  to  rage,  when  the 
place  was  again  relieved  by  Admiral  Darby.  A  furious 
bombardment  ensued.  Nearly  80,000  balls  and  shells 
were  poured  in  ;  the  town  was  almost  entirely  destroyed, 
and  the  inhabitants  took  refuge  to  the  south  of  the  rock  ; 
but  only  about  70  persons  were  killed  and  wounded.  In 
Minorca  St.  Philip's  castle  was  besieged,  and  held  out 
gallantly  for  months  under  General  Murray.  The  com 
bined  fleets  of  France  and  Spain  occupied  the  mouth  of 
the  Channel  from  Scilly  to  Ushant.  An  indecisive  action 
took  place  off  the  Doggerbank  between  an  English  and 
a  Dutch  fleet  (August  5). 

Before  the  actual  declaration  of  war,  orders  had  been 
sent  to  Rodney  to  seize  the  Dutch  island  of  St.  Eustatius, 


Seizure  of  '  as  "ch  a   mar* 

St.Eustatius,  of  trade  as  the  Danish  free  port  of  St.  Thomas 
Jhe^'r1!7!?1  :  afterwards  became.  On  February  3,  1781,  the 
the  West  in-  rupture  not  being  yet  known,  he  carried  out 

dies,  Florida,   ,  .  ,  „,,      °    .  % 

and  India,  his  orders.  The  prize  was  a  splendid  one.  It 
I78lt  included  3,ooo,ooo/.  of  merchandise,  150  mer 

chantmen,  a  Dutch  frigate  and  five  smaller  ships  of  war. 
To  these  were  soon  added  30  more  merchantmen  with  a 
6o-gun  ship  as  their  convoy,  overtaken  on  their  way  to 
Europe  by  a  detachment  from  the  English  fleet,  and  17 
more  which  entered  the  harbour  after  the  capture,  the 
Dutch  flag  still  flying.  The  other  Dutch  colonies  in  the 
West  Indies,  Demerara,  Essequibo,  Berbice,  were  reduced 
in  March.  But  Rodney  had  to  fight  an  indecisive  action 
with  the  French  fleet  on  April  29  ;  on  June  2  Tobago 
capitulated  to  the  French,  and  before  the  end  of  the 
year  they  retook  St.  Eustatius  from  the  English,  and 
also  took  St.  Martin's.  On  the  southern  coast  of 
North  America  Pensacola  capitulated  to  the  Spaniards 
after  a  most  gallant  defence,  and  Spain  left  the  British 
troops  free  to  serve  against  the  United  States  (March  9, 


1 780- 1 .  Second  Period.  1 87 

1781).  In  India  Sir  Eyre  Coote  disarmed  the  French  of 
Pondicherry,  who  had  risen  on  the  arrival  of  a  French 
fleet,  and  in  a  glorious  campaign  drove  back  the  vastly 
superior  forces  of  Hyder  Ali,  though  at  the  cost  of  a 
third  of  his  troops,  whilst  further  north  the  war  with  the 
Mahrattas  was  virtually  brought  to  a  close  by  a  night 
surprise  of  the  latter  (March  27,  1 781).  The  Dutch  settle 
ments  in  India  were  also  attacked,  and  Negapatam  was 
reduced  (November  1781). 

Although  England  now  stood  alone  against  three 
foreign  enemies,  besides  her  own  revolted  colonies,  it 
would  have  been  difficult  to  say  on  which  side  France 
was  the  balance  of  advantage.  France  was  a^°us  f°[e 
anxious  for  peace.  Necker  had  already  at  the  diation  of 
close  of  the  last  year  written  secretly  to  Lord  Austna- 
North  proposing  a  truce  on  the  basis,  diplomatically 
termed,  of  uti  possidetis,  each  party  to  keep  possession  of 
what  he  had.  A  few  months  later  Vergennes  in  turn  took 
up  the  idea,  but  not  liking  to  propose  it,  handed  it  over  to 
the  Austrian  minister  Kaunitz,  who  attempted  a  mediation 
and  proposed  a  peace  congress  at  Vienna,  but  failed. 
France,  with  nearly  i6o,ooo,ooo/.  sterling  of  debt,  was 
verging  on  bankruptcy,  yet  Necker  was  prevailed  upon  to 
consent  to  a  loan  of  10,000,000  more  of  French  livres  to 
America,  to  be  negotiated  in  Holland  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  France.  The  negotiator,  Laurens,  was  a  South 
Carolinian,  and  the  first  use  he  made  of  it  was  to  pay  a 
debt  of  his  own  State  to  Holland.  Presently  Necker  was 
dismissed  from  office.  It  was  after  all  in  America  that 
the  fate  of  the  war  must  be  decided. 

Not  however  in  the  north.  The  winter  of  1780-1  was 
a  gloomier  one  than  any  yet  for  the  main  army  under 
Washington.  By  November  20,  1780,  the  soldiers  had 
been  for  ten  months  without  pay.  The  paper  money  of 
the  Congress  was  made  more  worthless  still  by  a  flood  of 


188     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

British  forgeries.  Washington  deemed  a  foreign  loan 
1  indispensably  necessary  for  the  continuance 
ton's  army  of  the  war/  On  the  night  of  January  i,  17811 
white?  of e  the  w^ole  of  the  Pennsylvanian  troops,  three 
1780-1.  Mu-  regiments  only  excepted,  mutinied  and  declared 
that  they  would  march  to  Philadelphia  to 
obtain  redress.  In  endeavouring  to  restrain  them  one 
officer  was  killed,  another  mortally  and  several  less  se 
verely  wounded.  The  mutineers  met  with  their  bayonets 
a  favourite  general,  Wayne,  who  vainly  tried  to  stop 
them,  and  commenced  their  march,  1,300  strong,  with 
six  pieces  of  artillery.  They  were  not,  indeed,  traitors 
and  when  Sir  H.  Clinton  sent  some  men  to  tempt  them 
over  with  advantageous  terms  to  the  British  side,  they 
handed  over  his  emissaries  to  General  Wayne  for  execu 
tion.  A  committee  of  Congress  met  the  mutineers,  and 
compromised  matters  by  discharging  many,  and  giving 
40  days'  furloughs  to  others.  The  New  Jersey  brigade 
was  the  next  to  revolt  (January  20),  and  Washington  had 
to  resort  to  force,  and  hang  five  of  the  ringleaders  (Janu 
ary  27).  Events  like  these  did  not  promote  recruiting. 
Washington's  favourite  plan  of  enlisting  men  for  the  war 
failed  so  completely  that  some  of  the  States  had  to  resort 
again  to  temporary  enlistments  (April  i) ;  and  by  May, 
out  of  37,000  men  requisitioned  by  Congress,  the  whole 
of  the  northern  States,  from  New  Jersey  to  New  Hamp 
shire,  had  not  7,000  infantry  in  the  field.  Compelled  to 
resort  to  impressment  for  obtaining  supplies,  Washington 
wrote  in  his  Diary  (May  i)  :  '  We  are  daily  and  hourly 
oppressing  the  people,  souring  their  tempers  and  alien 
ating  their  affections.' 

Still,  the  worst  of  the  financial  crisis  was  tided  over 
through  the  exertions  of  Robert  Morris,  appointed  super 
intendent  of  finance  (February  1781).  By  means  of  a 
bank  which  he  established,  called  the  Bank  of  North 


1  78  1  .  Second  Period.  1  89 

America,  he  succeeded  on  the  whole  from  henceforth  in 
meeting  the  engagements  of  the  army,  going  The  crisis 
indeed  so  far  as  to  procure  supplies  on  his  tided  over; 
own  credit.    A  still  more  important  event  was  Of  confede- 


the  adoption  by  the  last  outstanding  State 
(March  i,  1781)  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation  March  i, 
approved  of  by  Congress  since  1777.  The  I7Sl* 
chief  cause  of  delay  had  been  a  question  of  waste  lands 
and  boundaries.  It  will  be  recollected  that  many  of  the 
States  had  been  chartered  with  very  extensive  limits,  ex 
tending  often  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  These  States  claimed 
the  benefit  of  their  charters,  and  the  ownership  of  all  waste 
lands  within  the  purview  of  those  charters.  The  smaller 
States  with  fixed  limits,  on  the  other  hand  —  Rhode  Island, 
Delaware,  New  Jersey,  Maryland  —  claimed  that  Congress 
should  fix  boundaries  for  all,  and  that  the  waste  lands 
should  belong  to  the  Union  at  large.  All,  however,  ex 
cept  Maryland  had  acceded  to  the  Confederation  by  the 
end  of  1779.  Eventually  New  York  (1780)  consented  to 
let  Congress  fix  her  western  boundaries,  and  ceded  he* 
public  lands  to  the  Union.  A  year  later  Virginia,  not  to 
be  outdone,  ceded  all  her  claims  to  what  was  known  as 
the  north-western  territory,  i.e.  that  to  the  N.W.  of  the 
Ohio.  Thus  the  bone  of  contention  was  removed,  and 
Maryland  signed  the  articles.  Yet  at  the  very  moment 
when  the  revolted  colonies  were  thus  drawing  closer  to 
gether  the  bond  of  union,  Lord  George  Germain,  the 
English  secretary  of  state,  was  writing  to  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  (March  7),  in  a  despatch  afterwards  intercepted  : 
'  So  very  contemptible  is  the  rebel  force  now  in  all  parts, 
and  so  vast  is  our  superiority  everywhere,  that  no  resist 
ance  on  their  part  is  to  be  apprehended  that  can  mate 
rially  obstruct  the  progress  of  the  king's  arms  in  the 
speedy  suppression  of  the  rebellion/ 

In  the  south  the  war  was  about  to  take  a  new  aspect 


190     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

under  Gates's  successor,  the  former  Quaker  blacksmith, 
Greene. 

The  state  of  things  as  Greene  found  it  (December  1780), 
seemed  well-nigh  desperate.  He  had  only  2,307  men,  of 
whom  one-half  were  militia,  and  only  800  were  properly 
clothed  and  equipped.  His  army,  to  use  his  own  words, 
was  '  rather  a  shadow  than  a  substance  ....  artillery, 

baggage,  stores,  everything  had  gone  by  the 
thee!outk  board  on  the  fatal  day  of  the  recent  defeat 
Co"lenlthe  (*'*'  at  Camden)-  The  soldiers  went  and  came 
January  17,  as  they  pleased,  and  were  only  stopped  from 

doing  so  when  one  of  them  was  shot  as  a  deser 
ter.  Moving  on  himself  to  the  Pedee  river,  he  sent  General 
Morgan  with  1,000  men  into  the  north-west  of  South  Caro 
lina,  towards  the  junction  of  the  Broad  and  Pacolet  rivers. 
Here  at  a  place  called  the  Cowpens  (from  one  of  those 
enclosures  into  which  the  numerous  herds  of  cattle  are 
driven  for  marking),  Morgan  was  attacked  by  Tarleton 
with  somewhat  superior  forces.  The  Americans  were 
already  outflanked  on  both  sides,  when  a  rear-movement 
of  the  Maryland  division,  which  was  mistaken  for  a 
breaking  of  the  American  line,  drew  on  in  turn  the  main 
body  of  the  British  under  a  murderous  cross-fire.  They 
were  thrown  into  disorder,  the  Americans  charged  on  all 
sides,  and  the  day  ended  in  the  utter  defeat  of  the  English. 
The  fame  of  the  victory  spread  far  and  wide.  Lord 
Cornwallis,  writing  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton  the  day  after 
Lord  Com-  tne  battle,  called  it  an  '  unexpected  and  ex- 
waliis  ad-  traordinary  event/  of  which  it  was  '  impossible 

vances  again  r  ,,    ,  ,      -^    ,    •, 

into  North  to  foresee  all  the  consequences.'  But  he  was 
G^enina'  bent  upon  an  offensive  campaign,  in  which, 
retreating,  marching  through  North  Carolina  and  Virginia, 
he  should  form  a  junction  on  the  Chesapeake  with  the 
Northern  British  army.  As  the  first  step  towards  this, 
Arnold  had  already  been  sent  by  Clinton  with  1,600  men 


1 78 1.  Second  Period.  191 

to  the  James  river  (January  2),  and  had  plundered  and 
burnt  Richmond.  So  leaving  Lord  Rawdon  with  a  body 
of  troops  in  South  Carolina,  Cornwallis  pushed  across  the 
border  into  North  Carolina,  destroying  all  superfluous 
baggage,  and  proceeding  mostly  by  forced  marches.  Too 
weak  to  resist  the  English  advance,  although  Morgan  with 
his  victorious  troops  had  rejoined  him,  Greene  retreated 
before  Cornwallis  for  200  miles  to  the  north  bank  of  the 
Dan  river,  which  he  crossed  the  night  before  his  pur 
suer  reached  it.  Of  his  troops,  many  hundreds  tracked 
'the  ground  with  their  bloody  feet;;  they  had  but  one 
blanket  to  four  men,  besides  being  unpaid  and  irregularly 
fed.  Lord  Cornwallis  now  proceeded  by  easier  stages 
to  Hillsborough,  whence  he  issued  a  proclamation  (Fe 
bruary  20),  inviting  all  loyal  subjects  to  repair  to  his 
standard.  The  loyalists  were  indeed  numerous,  and  as 
many  as  seven  companies  were  formed  in  a  day.  But  a 
body  of  300  were  cut  to  pieces  by  a  larger  force  of  Ame 
ricans  under  Pickens  and  Lee,  with  l  dreadful  carnage,' 
say  the  American  accounts,  although  '  begging  quarter/ 
say  the  English.  The  event  seems  to  have  struck  terror 
into  their  party,  for  Lord  Cornwallis  wrote  of  his  being 
1  among  timid  friends,  and  adjoining  to  inveterate  rebels.' 
After  some  marching  and  counter-marching,  Greene  at 
last  accepted  battle  at  Guilford  Court  House  (March  15). 
His  forces  were,  by  American  accounts  even,  Battle  of 
twice  as  many  as  the  1,900  of  Cornwallis.  The  court*™1 
Americans  were  very  strongly  posted,  but  in  House, 
three  separate  positions.  The  first  and  strongest,  i78i^  Co5rn- 
manned  by  North  Carolina  militia,  was  easily  b^ck^the 
taken,  the  militiamen  taking  to  their  heels  after  coast. 
a  first  or  second  shot,  and  nearly  one-half  without  firing 
at  all.  The  second  position  was  obstinately  contested  by 
the  Virginia  brigade,  but  a  bayonet  charge  finally  dis 
lodged  them.  Round  the  third,  commanded  by  Greene 


192      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

himself,  the  battle  raged  long  with  varying  success.  At 
last  Greene  retreated,  leaving  his  artillery  behind,  but 
the  victory  was  dearly  won.  Out  of  the  small  British 
force,  570  were  killed  or  wounded,  whilst  the  Americans 
lost  only  419,  all  but  93  continentals.  The  battle,  more 
over,  had  been  fought  200  miles  from  Cornwallis's  com 
munications,  and  his  march  henceforth  became  a  retreat, 
in  which  he  was  in  turn  pursued  by  Greene.  Falling 
back  towards  the  coast,  he  reached  Wilmington  (April  7) 
with  the  relics  of  his  army,  and  all  North  Carolina  was 
recovered  by  the  Americans.  Cornwallis  was  still  bent 
on  reaching  Virginia. 

Hither  La  Fayette  had  been  sent  to  oppose  Arnold. 
His  troops  were  as  usual  without  pay  or  supplies.  With 
characteristic  generosity — serving,  it  will  be  remembered, 
La  Fayette  without  pay — he  borrowed  2,ooo/.  to  equip  them, 
and  Arnold  With  the  assistance  of  Steuben  at  the  head  of 
Comwaiiis'  a  body  of  militia,  he  succeeded  in  keeping  in 
Wilmington  cneck  the  already  superior  British  force.  In 
(April).  the  last  days  of  April,  Cornwallis,  without 
Clinton's  authority,  left  Wilmington  with  1,435  men>  and 
marched  without  opposition  to  Petersburg  in  Virginia. 
Clinton  trembled  for  '  the  fatal  consequences'  which  might 
ensue.  But  Lord  George  Germain  was  entirely  with  Corn 
wallis,  and  every  despatch  urged  the  importance  of  push 
ing  the  war  in  Virginia. 

Before  Cornwallis  had  even  reached  Wilmington, 
Greene  was  already  taking  measures  for  recovering  South 
Greene  re-  Carolina  and  Georgia.  Three  posts  corn- 
covers  the  manded  the  interior  of  the  former,  Camden 
oPsoutif"1  and  Ninety-six  in  South  Carolina,  and  Augusta 
Carolina.  jn  Qeorgja>  Lee  anci  Marion  were  sent  to  ope 
rate  between  Camden  and  Charleston,  Sumpter  between 
Camden  and  Ninety-six,  Pickens  between  Ninety-six  and 
Augusta.  Greene  himself  moved  upon  Camden.  Near 


1781.  Second  Period.  193 

this  place  he  was  attacked  (April  18)  in  a  well-chosen 
position  by  Lord  Rawdon,  with  800  or  900  men,  Greene's 
own  regulars  alone  outnumbering  the  English,  whilst  his 
total  force,  according  to  the  English  accounts,  came  up  to 
2,000  men.  But  he  was  defeated,  losing  rather  more  in 
killed  and  wounded  than  the  English,  who  could,  how 
ever,  ill  spare  their  loss  of  258  men.  Lord  Rawdon  at 
first  pursued  him,  but  Lee  and  Marion  had  meanwhile 
broken  the  connexion  between  Camden  and  Charleston. 
It  became  necessary  to  evacuate  Camden,  while  Rawdon 
was  obliged  to  retreat,  marching  down  the  north  bank  of 
the  Santee.  Before  long  the  whole  north-west  of  South 
Carolina  had  been  recovered  by  the  Americans,  who  took 
many  prisoners  through  the  surrender  of  the  smaller 
posts.  Then  Augusta  fell  (June  5),  whilst  Ninety-six  was 
besieged.  An  assault  upon  it,  hastened  by  the  approach 
of  Lord  Rawdon,  failed,  with  severe  loss ;  but  it  was  too 
isolated  to  be  thenceforth  tenable,  and  was  evacuated, 
whilst  Lord  Rawdon  announced  to  the  loyalists  of  the 
district  that  they  could  no  longer  be  protected.  He  re 
turned  to  Charleston  ill  and  disgusted,  and  sailed  before 
long  for  England.  The  result  of  the  campaign  had  been 
that  Greene  had  recovered  the  principal  part  of  South 
Carolina,  and  had  confined  the  English  within  the  Santee, 
Congaree,  and  Edisto  rivers.  Thus  Lord  Cornwallis's 
rash  advance  into  Virginia  had  thrown  away  the  fruit  of 
all  previous  successes  in  the  south,  and  reduced  the 
English  dominion  to  a  mere  foothold  or  two.  He  himself 
was  now  convinced  that  the  idea  of  the  loyalists  '  rising 
in  any  number  and  to  any  purpose'  had  *  totally  failed/ 
and  doubted  whether  the  English  force  were  sufficient  for 
a  war  of  conquest.  Yet  with  eyes  thus  open  did  he  rush 
upon  his  doom. 

Whilst  these  things  were  taking  place,  the  Opposition 
hi  the  new  House  of  Commons  again  endeavoured  to  put 

M.  H.  O 


IQ4     The  War  of  American  Independence,     A.D. 
a  stop  to  the  war.     Motions  were  made  to  this  effect  by 


Proceedings  Hartley    (May    3°)>    b7    F°X    (June    I2)« 

inparlia-       Fox  declared  that  the  report  of  Lord  Corn- 

SrfUeFa*  wallis  (after  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court 
younger  House),  showed  the  war  to  be  (  impracticable 
in  its  object,  and  ruinous  in  its  progress/ 
The  honours  of  the  debate  were,  however,  for  the  younger 
Pitt,  who  was  declared  to  have  equalled  his  father.  He 
termed  the  war  '  a  most  accursed  war,  wicked,  barbarous, 
cruel,  and  unnatural/  and  spoke  of  the  '  impious  course  of 
enforcing  unconditional  submission.'  The  ministers  won, 
but  with  diminishing  majorities.  The  session  was  closed 
on  July  1  8.  The  final  catastrophe  was  not  to  be  diverted 
by  a  timely  peace. 

And  yet  never  had  America  felt  weaker.  Her  young 
navy  had  been  annihilated  ;  only  two  frigates  remained. 
Weakness  of  Congress  had  given  up  wrangling  about  the 
subservtency  conditions  of  peace.  Some  of  its  members  were 
to  France,  in  the  pay  of  France.  Boundaries,  fisheries, 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  the  country  west  of  the 
Ohio,  all  these  points,  hitherto  deemed  essential,  were 
thrown  overboard.  Independence  was  to  be  the  sole  con 
dition,  and  in  the  same  breath  such  subserviency  to  France 
was  acknowledged  that  the  American  commissioners  were 
instructed  not  only  '  to  undertake  nothing  in  their  nego 
tiations  for  peace  or  truce  without  the  knowledge  and 
concurrence  of  the  ministers  of  the  King  of  France/ 
but  *  ultimately  to  govern  themselves  by  their  advice  and 
opinion'  (May  1781). 

Cornwallis  reached  Petersburg  on  May  20.  He  sent 
Cornwallis  Tarleton  to  Charlottesville,  where  the  State 
in  Virginia,  legislature  was  sitting,  and  where  seven  of  the 

He  with-  .  ...  .  , 

draws  to  members  were  taken  prisoners.  Meantime,  he 
(Augutr'  started  himself  in  pursuit  of  La  Fayette.  With 
1781).  great  adroitness,  at  the  head  of  about  equal 

forces,  though  with  not  nearly  so  many  regulars.  La  Fayette 


1781.  Second  Period.  195 

eluded  and  checked  him ;  and  the  summer  was  spent  in  use 
less  movements  and  in  mere  ravages,  during  which  it  is  said 
that  property  to  the  amount  of  3,ooo,ooo/.  was  destroyed. 
But  Lord  Cornwallis  had  received  orders  from  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  to  send  back  3,000  men  to  New  York,  and  to 
withdraw  to  a  defensive  position  (June-July).  He  saw 
too  late  that  his  movement  into  Virginia  must  prove  a 
failure,  and  wished  to  transfer  the  command  to  another 
general  and  return  to  Charleston.  But  in  obedience  to 
orders  he  withdrew  (August  I  -8)  with  his  army  to  York- 
town  and  Gloucester — 'a.  very  advantageous  place/  wrote 
La  Fayette  to  Vergennes,  '  for  one  who  has  the  maritime 
superiority' — and  a  French  fleet  under  De  Grasse,  bring 
ing  reinforcements,  was  then  expected  on  the  coast. 

Whilst  Cornwallis  is  fortifying  himself  in  Yorktown, 
and  Washington  is  doing  his  best  to  collect  his  forces  for 
the  final  encounter,  let  us  cast  one  more  glance  Battle  of 
on  the  other  fields  of  warfare  in  America.     In  Eutaw 
South  Carolina  Greene  was  pushing  what  re-  s?pteSber8, 
mained  of  the  British  forces  more  and  more  JJ.fr  at 'an 
towards  Charleston.     A  final  engagement  took  end  in  the 
place  at  Eutaw  Springs  (September  8),  in  which 
the  English  under  Colonel  Stuart,  Lord  Rawdon's  suc 
cessor,  remained  masters  of  the  field  through  an  unex 
pected  rally,  though  losing  not  much  less  than  700  men 
against  555  on  the  American  side.      But  they  were  too 
weak  to  hold  their  ground,  and  drew  off  in  the  night 
towards    Charleston,   after    destroying    1,000   stand    of 
arms,  and  leaving  70  wounded  men  behind.     The  struggle 
in   the  south  was  henceforth  virtually   closed,  although 
Wilmington,   Charleston,    and    Savannah    remained  in 
English    hands.      The  English  had  fought  like  heroes, 
but  most  of  their  victories  had  been  as  fatal  to  them  as 
defeats. 

Just  two  days  before  the  battle  of  Eutaw  Springs,  the 


[96      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

war  had  cast  up  a  last  flicker  in  the  extreme  north. 
Arnold  in  Arnold,  whom  Cornwallis,  on  his  arrival  in  Vir- 
Connecticut  ginia,  had  sent  back  to  New  York,  had  been 

(September).     ,    ,       ,       ,    .         „,.  .  _  7 

detached  by  Clinton  against  Connecticut,  his 
native  State,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  draw  off  either  the 
French,  or  a  portion  of  the  main  army.  He  plundered 
and  burnt  New  London,  and  stormed  Fort  Griswold,  gar 
risoned  by  some  1 50  militiamen  under  a  colonel.  Quarter 
was  refused.  This  was  Benedict  Arnold's  last  exploit. 

Meanwhile  Washington  had  had  time  to  effect  a 
junction  with  the  French  forces.  As  early  as  May  21 
junction  of  ne  ^a(^  a£reed  with  Rochambeau  that  the  war 
Washington  should  be  carried  to  the  Chesapeake.  In  June 
French;  the  French  from  Rhode  Island,  including  a 
onetheions  newty  arrived  reinforcement  of  1,500  men,  left 
Chesapeake  Newport  for  the  Hudson  river,  whilst  a  timely 
succour  in  money  of  2,500,000  French  livres 
(out  of  a  promised  French  loan  of  6,000,000),  also  came 
in.  Seeing  himself  thus  strengthened,  Washington  for  a 
time  projected  a  combined  attack  on  New  York;  Ro 
chambeau  preferred  the  plan  of  operations  on  the  Chesa 
peake,  which  La  Fayette  also  warmly  supported,  and  the 
latter  plan  was  finally  decided  on,  in  order  to  make  sure 
of  the  support  of  the  French  admiral,  Count  de  Grasse, 
who  would  not  be  able  to  remain  off  the  coast  beyond  the 
middle  of  October,  a  time  which  was  considered  too  early 
for  the  reduction  of  New  York. 

By  August  2 1  the  combined  French  and  American 
troops  were  on  the  march.  On  the  2$rd  and  24th  they 
The  march  crossed  the  Hudson  without  hindrance  from 
to  Virginia,  Clinton,  who  was  expecting  to  be  attacked.  It 
August  1781.  was  septemker  2  before  he  began  to  suspect 
that-  New  York  was  not  their  object.  Meanwhile  on 
August  31  De  Grasse  arrived  in  Chesapeake  Bay  with 
28  ships  of  the  line,  having  taken  Lord  Rawdon  prisoner 


1781.  Second  Period.  \  97 

while  the  latter  was  returning  to  Europe.  A  few  days 
later  he  beat  off  the  British  fleet  under  Admiral  Graves, 
and  shortly  after  took  two  British  frigates.  Washington 
was  pressing  on.  Having  visited  on  the  way,  after  more 
than  six  years'  absence,  his  own  estate  at  Mount  Vernon, 
he  reached  Williamsburg  on  the  Hth.  The  natural  im 
petuosity  of  his  usually  self-restrained  character  betrays 
itself  in  a  letter  written  the  following  day  to  General  Lin 
coln:— 'Every  day  we  now  lose  is  comparatively  an  age 
.  .  .  hurry  on  then,  my  dear  sir,  with  your  troops  on  the 
wings  of  speed.'  At  the  last  moment  a  check  came  from 
the  French  admiral,  who  would  have  preferred  to  operate 
on  New  York,  but  Washington  and  La  Fayette  prevailed 
upon  him  to  waive  the  plan,  and  join  in  the  attack  on 
Yorktown. 

On  September  28  the  whole  army  advanced  to  within 
two  miles  of  that  place,  which  was  completely  invested, 
the  French  taking  the  left  and  the  Americans 

...  i  •-,  i         •,       -,  i  -r-  i     Yorktown  in- 

the  right,  whilst  another  body  under  a  French  vested,  Sep- 
commander  also  invested  Gloucester  on  the  oSnwaiUs 
other    side    of   the   York    river.      Expecting  surrenders, 

~  ...       ,.  ,  .  11.  October  19. 

succour,  Cornwallis  did  not  impede  their  ope 
rations.  Trenches  were  opened  on  October  5.  The 
batteries  began  their  fire  on  the  Qth  and  loth ;  a  frigate 
and  three  transports  were  set  on  fire  by  red-hot  shot  on 
the  night  of  the  loth-nth.  By  the  nth  the  English 
could  scarcely  return  the  fire,  and  in  the  night  the  second 
parallel  was  begun  within  100  yards  of  their  lines.  On 
the  1 4th  two  redoubts  were  taken  by  storm,  one  by  the 
French,  the  other  by  the  Americans.  A  desperate  sally 
just  before  break  of  day  on  the  i6th,  at  first  successful, 
failed.  On  that  night  an  attempt  was  made  to  cross  the 
river  to  Gloucester  Point,  and  cut  a  way  through  the 
French  lines  ;  but  a  violent  storm  prevented  its  success. 
The  next  day  Cornwallis  proposed  a  cessation  of  hostil;- 


198      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A,I>. 


ties,  a  capitulation  was  concluded,  and  on  the  iQth  he  sur 
rendered  Yorktown  and  Gloucester  to  Washington,  with 
the  troops  and  100  pieces  of  artillery,  whilst  the  ships  and 
sailors  were  surrendered  to  De  Grasse.  Clinton,  after 
vainly  trying  a  diversion  through  Arnold,  as  above  men 
tioned,  had  sailed  with  7,000  men  to  the  relief  of  Lord 
Cornwall!  s  on  the  very  day  of  the  surrender,  and  only  re 
ceived  the  news  on  reaching  the  Chesapeake,  when  he 
returned  to  New  York. 

One  of  Washington's  aides-de-camp  bore  the  news  to 
Philadelphia.  Reaching  the  town  at  night,  he  was  near 
Rejoicings  in  being  taken  up  by  a  watchman  for  knocking 
America.  too  loud  at  the  President's  door.  The  old  door 
keeper  of  Congress  died  for  joy.  Washington  gave  a 
free  pardon  to  all  military  offenders.  There  were  public 
thanksgiving  services,  votes  of  thanks  to  the  commanders 
and  officers  of  the  allied  army  ;  a  commemorative  marble 
column  was  directed  to  be  erected  at  Yorktown  itself; 
2  stands  of  colours  (out  of  28  captured)  were  presented  to 
Washington,  2  field-pieces  to  Rochambeau. 

The  news  reached  Lord  George  Germain  on  No 
vember  23.  He  communicated  it  to  Lord  North,  who 
Proceedings  took  it  '  as  he  would  have  taken  a  bullet 
SeStfiie  through  his  breast,'  exclaiming,  <  O  God  !  it  is 
ministers  all  over.'  Yet  when,  a  few  days  later  the 
tacked7;  a  "  king  opened  parliament,  his  speech  reiterated 
ag^nsfthe  h*s  res°luti°n  to  preserve  America,  and  ex- 
war.  pressed  the  hope  of  being  able  by  the  valour 

of  his  fleets  and  armies  to  restore  the  blessings  of  peace 
to  his  dominions.  The  speech  was  fiercely  attacked  by 
Lord  Shelburne  in  the  Lords,  by  Fox,  Burke,  Pitt  in  the 
Commons.  Fox  declared  that  it  meant,  '  My  rage  for 
conquest  is  unquenched,  my  revenge  unsated,  nor  can 
anything  except  the  total  subjugation  of  my  revolted 
American  subjects  allay  my  animosity/  and  threatened 
the  ministers  with  the  scaffold.  Burke  compared  the 


jr  78 1  -  2 .  Second  Period.  1 99 

American  war  to  the  attempt  of  a  man  to  shear  a  wolf 
because  he  had  been  accustomed  to  shear  sheep.  Lord 
North  on  the  other  hand  declared  that  the  late  disaster 
in  Virginia  ought f  to  impel,  to  urge,  to  animate  '  English 
men  ;  Lord  George  Germain  declared  that  he  would  never 
assent  to  reconciliation  on  the  terms  of  American  indepen 
dence,  as  this  country  depended  on  America  '  for  its  very 
existence.7  The  address  was  carried  in  both  Houses  by 
large  majorities.  But  a  fortnight  later,  when  Sir  James 
Lowther  moved  a  resolution  that  the  attempt  to  reduce 
America  by  arms  was  impolitic  and  ought  to  be  aban 
doned,  Lord  North  avowed  that  it  would  be  'neither  wise 
nor  right  to  prosecute  the  war  in  America  any  longer  on 
a  continental  plan  ...  by  sending  fresh  armies  to  march 
through  the  colonies,  in  order  by  those  marches  to  sub 
due  America  to  obedience.'  This  was  a  confession  of 
failure,  and  Lowther's  resolution  was*  rejected  by  a  re 
duced  majority.  Public  meetings  began  to  be  held  in 
London,  Middlesex,  Surrey,  Westminster,  asking  that 
hostilities  should  be  put  a  stop  to.  In  this  request  they 
were  joined  by  the  West  India  merchants,  though  as  yet 
these  were  ignorant  of  the  extent  to  which  their  special 
trade  was  about  to  be  affected. 

On  January  31,  1782,  the  French  retook  Demerara, 
and  in  February  St.  Kitt's,  Nevis,  and  Montserrat  surren 
dered  to  the  Spaniards,  so  that  of  the  Lee-  ^ 

.  T  .        ,  The  war  al- 

ward  Islands  only  Barbadoes  and  Antigua  re-  most  every- 
mained  to  the  English.  In  the  East  more  SSto^f 
Dutch  settlements  had  been  reduced,  and  were  land-  ,Mi- 

i  i  i     .      ,         .        ,  ^  .  .  ,     norca  lost 

again  lost  through  jealousies  between  British  (Feb.  7, 
commanders.  The  Cape  of  Good  Hope  proved  I?82)> 
too  strong  to  be  taken.     A  series  of  sea-actions  fought 
between  English  fleets  under  Commodore  Johnstone  or 
Sir  Edward  Hughes  and  the  French  fleet  under  Suffrein, 
have  been   claimed  as  victories  by  historians   of  both 
nations.     At  any  rate  they  did  not  prevent  Suffrein  from 


200     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

being  able  always  to  refit,  or  from  landing  3,000  men 
as  auxiliaries  to  Hyder  Ali,  tidings  of  whose  death 
(December  7,  1782)  alone  stopped  the  victorious  pro 
gress  of  his  son,  henceforth  Tippoo  Sultan.  But  peace 
was  concluded  with  the  Mahrattas  (May  17,  1782). 
Nearer  home,  Minorca  had  been  surrendered  to  the 
French  after  a  most  gallant  defence,  whilst  Admiral 
Kempenfelt  returned  home,  after  failing  to  intercept  a 
superior  French  fleet.  The  mismanagement  of  the  navy 
by  Lord  Sandwich  now  became  a  subject  of  loud  com 
plaint,  and  in  the  attacks  upon  him  in  parliament  the 
majority  of  the  ministers  was  seen  to  be  waning. 

The  war  with  America  had  long  lost  all  its  popularity. 
England  had  been  threatened  with  ruin  to  her  trade  if 
she  lost  her  North  American  colonies,  and 
and  fall  of  after  seven  years'  cessation  of  intercourse  with 
m?n?str^rth'S  them>  thanks  to  tne  marvellous  development 
(March  20,  of  her  manufacturing  industry,  she  seemed  to 
be  none  the  worse.  Lord  George  Germain, 
who  was  more  especially  identified  in  the  public  mind 
with  these  bugbear  prophecies,  had  become  so  unpopular 
that  Lord  North  himself  asked  him  to  resign  ;  the  king, 
however,  insisting  on  giving  him  a  peerage  to  show  that 
no  slur  was  put  upon  him.  So  great  was  the  disgust  at 
this  proceeding  that  it  was  debated  in  the  Lords  whether 
their  House  had  not  the  power  of  refusing  to  admit  him. 
On  February  22  General  Con  way  moved  an  address 
against  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  this  time 
the  motion  was  defeated  by  a  majority  of  one  only  (193 
to  192).  It  was  henceforth  evident  that  the  ministry  was 
doomed.  Five  days  later  a  similar  address  was  carried  by 
a  majority  of  nineteen.  The  king  still  held  out  against  all 
persuasion,  Lord  North  always  urging  him  to  accept  his 
resignation,  and  declaring  in  the  House  with  truth  that  it 
was. from  no  personal  desire  that  he  remained  in  office. 
The  answer  given  to  Conwa/s  address  being  vague,  the 


1 7  82 .  Second  Period.  2  o  I 

latter  brought  forward  a  second  one,  declaring  enemies 
to  the  king  and  country  those  who  would  further  prose 
cute  the  war  on  the  continent  of  America.  This  time 
the  motion  was  adopted  without  a  division,  and  on  the 
next  day  leave  was  given  to  bring  in  a  bill  for  enabling 
the  king  to  conclude  a  peace  or  a  truce.  The  continu 
ance  of  the  ministry  was  impossible,  and  Lord  North  at 
last  obtained  his  release  from  office,  the  king  reminding 
him  at  parting,  '  It  is  you  that  desert  me,  not  I  you.' 
On  March  20,  obtaining  on  a  point  of  order  precedence 
over  a  member  who  was  to  move  a  vote  of  want  of  con 
fidence,  Lord  North  announced  his  resignation,  and  the 
House  adjourned.  A  long  debate  was  expected  ;  it  was 
snowing,  and  Lord  North's  carriage  was  almost  alone  in 
attendance.  As  he  went  out,  '  You  see,  gentlemen/  he 
said,  turning  to  some  of  his  opponents,  '  the  advantage  of 
being  in  the  secret.'  No  kindlier,  pleasanter  minister 
ever  lost  half  an  empire  to  his  country  ;  no  minister  ever 
did  so  much  mischief,  against  his  own  better  judgment, 
out  of  mere  deference  to  a  half-crazy  sovereign. 

The  king,  it  seems,  at  first  thought  of  withdrawing  to 
Hanover,  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that — treating 
through  Lord  Shelburne — he  was  prevailed 

•    •   ^       /TVT        u        \  •         -u-   t_    The  second 

upon  to  accept  a  ministry  (March  22)  in  which  Rockingham 
Rockingham  was  premier,  Shelburne  and  Fox  3^^ 
were  secretaries  of  state,  Conway  commander-  treats  with 

m»fv*f  r     i  -r»      i        Franklin. 

in-chief,  Barre  treasurer  of  the  navy,  Burke 
paymaster  of  the  forces,  Sheridan  under-secretary  of 
state.  In  the  forming  of  this  ministry  it  was  made  a 
condition  in  writing  that  there  should  be  '  no  veto  to  the 
independence  of  America/  Young  Pitt,  conscious  of  his 
power,  stood  aloof  till  he  could  enter  the  cabinet  The 
affairs  of  America  were  comprised  in  the  Home  Depart 
ment,  which  Lord  Shelburne  took.  He  lost  no  time  in 
sending  Sir  Guy  Carleton  as  commander-in-chief  to 
America  in  the  place  of  Sir  H.  Clinton,  with  the  most 


2O2     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

conciliatory  instructions,  and  in  putting  himself  in  com 
munication  personally  with  Henry  Laurens,  a  late  presi 
dent  of  Congress  (who  had  been  taken  on  the  high  seas, 
and  was  now  a  prisoner  in  England  on  parole),  and  with 
Franklin  by  means  of  a  friendly  letter  (April  6)  through 
Richard  Oswald,  a  Scotchman  who  had  resided  many 
years  in  America, l  a  pacifical  man.' 

But  America  felt  herself  to  be  so  weak,  and  knew  Eng 
land  to  be  still  so  strong,  that  she  could  not  yet  believe  in 
America  so  peace.  Some  desultory  warfare  was  still  being 
reduced  that  carried  on  between  loyalists  and  republicans 

she  cannot  .  ,  , 

believe  in  in  the  Carohnas,  with  much  ravage  and  mas 
sacre  on  both  sides,  the  result  tending 
always  against  the  British  cause.  On  the  other  hand 
the  American  treasury  had  been  drained  of  its  last  dollar 
by  the  beginning  of  January,  and  the  States  declared  that 
they  could  pay  no  taxes.  Two  millions  of  dollars  were 
to  have  been  paid  by  April  i  ;  not  a  cent  was  paid  by  the 
23rd,  and  only  20,000  dollars  by  June  I.  There  were  only 
10,000  soldiers  in  the  northern  army,  clamouring  as  usual 
for  pay.  Under  such  circumstances  the  pacific  overtures 
of  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who  reached  New  York  in  May, 
seemed  too  good  to  be  true  ;  both  Washington  and  the 
Congress  alike  distrusted  them,  and  a  passport  was  re 
fused  for  bringing  despatches  to  Philadelphia. 

Just  now,  indeed,  occurred  one  of  the  most  curious 

episodes  of  the  period.      The  discontents  of  the  army 

were  at   their  height,  and  Washington  could 

Ihe  crown       .          ,  -  .    ,  T-»    i 

offered  to  barely  restrain  it  from  violence.  Robert 
Washington.  jyiorriSj  the  finance  minister,  unable  to  obtain 
money,  was  abused  alike  for  asking  it  and  for  not  giving 
it ;  '  baited/  as  he  wrote,  '  by  continual  clamorous  de 
mands  ; '  '  paid  by  invective '  for  '  the  forfeiture  of  all 
that  is  valuable  in  life;  tempted  daily  to  lay  down  a 
burthen  which  pressed  him  to  the  earth/  An  address 
was  now  presented  to  Washington  from  a  number  of 


i/82.  Second  Period.  203 

officers  and  soldiers,  setting  forth  the  failure  of  justice 
from  Congress,  the  advantages  of  a  mixed  form  of 
government,  and  suggesting  that  their  chief  should  take 
rule  with  the  name  of  king.  It  met  with  a  stern  rebuke 
from  Washington.  But  so  weak  did  he  feel  himself  that 
he  wrote  at  the  end  of  this  month  that  if  the  British 
advanced  he  must  evacuate  his  positions. 

Negotiations  meanwhile  were  going  on  on  the  British 
side,  not  only  with  America  but  with  France,  and  to  a 
trifling  extent  with  Spain.     With  the  second  Rodney's 
power  they  were  hastened  by  a  splendid  vie-  victory  in  the 

^      ,  TTT          T     i.  West  Indies 

tory  of  Rodney's  in  the  West  Indies  over  the  (April  12, 
French  fleet  under  De  Grasse,  in  which  seven  I782'' 
ships  of  the  line  and  two  frigates  were  captured,  besides 
the  French  admiral  and  his  flag-ship  the  '  Ville  de  Paris,' 
then  the  largest  ship  on  the  seas,  which  had  taken  part 
in  the  reduction  of  Yorktown  ;  though,  indeed,  on  the 
return  passage  she  and  four  other  of  the  prizes  foundered 
with  their  crews,  in  a  hurricane.  Jamaica,  which'  had 
been  the  object  of  the  allied  fleets,  was  thus  saved  to 
the  English  ;  but  the  Bahama  Islands  were  surrendered 
to  Spain,  whilst  in  the  far  north  La  Pe'rouse,  ere  long  to 
be  better  known  as  a  scientific  explorer,  was  destroying 
the  settlements  on  the  Hudson's  Bay  river. 

The  death  of  Rockingham  (July  i)  did  not  impede 
the  progress  of  negotiation,  as  Shelburne  now  took  the 
premiership  ;  but  the  ministry  was  weakened  by 
the  secession   of  Fox,  Burke,  Sheridan,  and  burnemi-" 
others.     Pitt,  on  the   other  hand,  joined  the  ^aSation 
cabinet  as  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  and  Fox  of  Savannah 
going  at  once  into  opposition,  a  rivalry  between        ' 
these  two  celebrated  men,  hitherto  united  in  their  politics, 
-now  began,  which  was  only  to  end  with  their  lives.     Just 
about  this  time  Georgia,  where,  in  spite  of  the  aid  of  the 
Creek  and  Choctaw  Indians,  the  British  had  been  gradually 


204     The  War  of  A  merican  Independence.      A.  n. 

driven  into  Savannah,  was  recovered  from  them  altogether 
through  the  evacuation  of  that  place  (July  12),  the  loyalists 
withdrawing  into  Florida,  whilst  the  British  regulars  joined 
their  comrades  in  Charleston,  which  was  too  strong  to  be 
conquered. 

Although  some  movements  on  the  northern  frontier 
took  place  as  late  as  February  1783,  active  warfare  was 
Active  war-  now  virtually  reduced,  except  in  the  East,  to 
S7he°snieged  the  sie£e  of  Gibraltar,  the  prize  for  the  sake 
Gibraltar.  of  which  Spain  had  against  her  will  entered 
into  the  war,  and  which  she  was  bent  on  recovering. 
This  is  not  the  place  for  relating  that  celebrated  siege, 
with  its  bombardments  and  its  sallies.  We  must  con 
tent  ourselves  with  mentioning  the  famous  attack  by  the 
whole  Spanish  forces,  ships,  floating  batteries,  and  land 
artillery,  on  September  13,  1782,  and  its  triumphant 
repulse  by  the  besieged,  when  the  floating  batteries  were 
set  on  fire  with  red-hot  balls.  Shortly  afterwards  the  place 
was  revictualled  by  a  fleet  under  Lord  Howe,  which  next 
engaged  the  combined  French  and  Spanish  fleets  in  a 
decisive  battle.  Gibraltar  was  not  yet  to  be  recovered  by 
Spain. 

Negotiations  had  all  this  while  been  going  on  in 
Paris,  but  separately  with  the  American  commissioners, 
Progress  of  an(^  w^k  France.  Franklin  had  at  first  treated 
negotiations;  alone,  and  all  difficulties  seemed  by  August  to 

preliminary  .  T  .    . 

articles  of  be  at  an  end,  when  his  colleague  Jay  arriving, 
IweenEng-  an<^  afterwards  Adams,  interposed  new  ob- 
land  and  stacles.  In  another  month,  however,  the  British 

America,  .  ,    .  .     .      ..  .  . 

Nov.  30,  negotiators  laid  before  them  an  intercepted 
despatch  from  the  French  secretary  of  legation 
in  Philadelphia,  which  showed  underhand  dealings  on 
the  part  of  France  to  the  detriment  of  America.  Jay's 
unwillingness  to  proceed  was  thus  removed ;  and  it 
was  time  that  it  should  be.  The  loyalists  of  Pennsyl- 


1782.  Second  Period.  205 

vania,  Maryland,  Delaware,  New  York,  were  presenting 
addresses  to  Sir  Guy  Carleton  against  the  negotiations, 
declaring  their  determination  to  resist  the  Congress. 
Washington  wrote  in  October  :  '  The  longsufferance  of 
the  army  is  almost  exhausted  ;  it  is  high  time  for  a  peace/ 
Although  specifically  instructed,  as  has  been  seen,  to 
undertake  nothing  without  the  knowledge  of  the  French 
ministry,  and  to  '  govern  themselves  by  their  advice  and 
opinion/  the  American  commissioners  signed  preliminary 
articles  of  peace  behind  the  back  of  the  French  Govern 
ment.  Vergennes  naturally  complained.  America  was 
at  that  very  moment  begging  a  further  loan  of  France. 
Franklin  was  obliged  to  eat  humble  pie ;  he  acknowledged 
that  he  and  his  colleagues  had  been  <  guilty  of  neglecting 
a  point  bibitnstancej  and  hoped  it  would  be  excused.  The 
fact  evidently  is  that  he  was  determined  to  make  peace  at 
any  price.  France,  indeed,  was  generous  ;  she  granted  a 
loan  of  6,000,000  livres,  and  paid  down  600,000.  Rut  she 
was  not  just  in  her  generosity,  for  to  do  this  she  was 
obliged  to  stop  payment  for  a  twelvemonth  of  her  own 
bills  of  exchange,  due  in  America  and  the  East  Indies. 
Spain,  too,  was  so  exhausted  that  in  the  course  of  the 
year  she  had  had  to  borrow  from  Portugal  at  8  per  cent., 
whilst  her  paper  was  at  a  discount  of  14.  In  fact,  though 
standing  alone  against  so  many  belligerents,  England 
bad  suffered  least  of  all. 

On  December  5  the  session  of  parliament  was  opened, 
and  the  king  announced  his  consent  to  the  independence 
of  the  American  colonies.    ( In  thus  admitting  Qpenin   of 
their  separation   from  the    crown    of   Great  parliament, 
Britain,'  he  said,  '  I  have  sacrificed  every  con-  king's5 ' 
sideration  of  my  own  to  the  wishes  and  opinion  sPeech- 
of  the  people.     I  make  it  my  humble  and  earnest  prayer 
to  Almighty  God  that  Great  Britain  may  not  feel  the  evils 
which  might  result  from  so  great  a  dismemberment  of 


206     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

the  empire,  and  that  America  may  be  free  from  those 
calamities  which  have  formerly  proved  in  the  mother- 
country  how  essential  monarchy  is  to  the  enjoyment  of 
constitutional  liberty.  Religion,  language,  interest,  affec 
tions,  may,  and  I  hope  will  yet  prove  a  bond  of  perma 
nent  union  between  the  two  countries  ;  to  this  end  neither 
attention  nor  disposition  shall  be  wanting  on  my  part/ 
To  the  surprise  of  many  the  speech  was  disapproved  by 
Fox  and  Burke,  as  well  as  by  Lord  North  —  the  two 
former  using  most  violent  language. 

In  the  same  month  the  French  fleet  left  the  coast  of 
America,  carrying  with  it  the  French  troops,  which  had 
The  French  now  ^een  two  Y^ars  and  a  half  in  the  country, 
troops  return  and  yet  had  never  met  the  English  except 

to  Europe. 

at  Yorktown.  Washington  meanwhile  was 
writing  that  the  temper  of  the  army  was  '  much  soured/ 
and  '  more  irritable  than  at  any  period  since  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war.' 

On  January  20,  1783,  the  preliminaries  of  peace  were 
signed  in  Paris  between  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Spain. 
Preiimina-  The  United  States  were  acknowledged  as  free, 
ries  of  .  sovereign,  and  independent,  their  frontier  being 

peace  with  -,      ,    /          •,•         \  c  i 

France  and    marked  by  a  line  drawn  from  the  north-west 


Nova  Scotia  toward  one  of  the  heads 
1783-  of  the  Connecticut  river,  thence  to  Lake  On 

tario,  and  through  the  middle  of  that  lake  and  of  Lakes 
Erie  and  Huron  to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  thence  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  along  its  course  to  Fort  Mobile  and  the 
borders  of  Florida.  The  Americans  obtained  the  right 
of  fishing  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland  and  in  the  Gulf 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  ;  the  whole  course  of  the  Mississippi 
was  to  be  free  to  both  nations.  As  between  England  and 
France  there  was  substantially  a  general  restitution  of 
conquered  territory,  except  that  France  kept  Tobago  ;  and 
there  was  some  exchange  of  territory  on  the  coast  of 
Africa.  Spain,  unable  to  obtain  Gibraltar,  restored  the 


1783.  Second  Period.  207 

Bahamas,  but  retained  Minorca,  and  retained  or  obtained 
all  Florida.  The  loyalists  were  recommended  to  the 
favourable  consideration  of  Congress,  which  paid  no  heed 
to  the  recommendation. 

Shortly  after  the  conclusion  of  the  general  treaty, 
an  armistice  followed  by  a  peace  was  concluded  with 
Holland,  on  the  same  principle  of  mutual  restitution, 
except  that  Holland  lost  Negapatam.  The  only  enemy 
now  in  arms  against  England  was  Tippoo  Peace  with 
Sultan.  There  was  fighting  in  India  between 
him  and  his'  French  allies  on  the  one  side,  and  Sultan. 
the  British  on  the  other,  after  the  date  of  the  peace. 
When  the  news  of  this  came,  the  French  were  recalled, 
and  the  sultan  was  invited  to  join  in  the  peace.  He 
refused  to  do  so  till  he  had  reduced  Mangalore,  but 
having  done  this  consented  to  treat  on  the  basis  of  a 
mutual  restoration  of  conquests  (March  1784). 

The  treaties  of  Paris  were  sharply  assailed  in  parlia 
ment,  chiefly  as  respects  what  was  declared  to  be  the  de 
sertion  of  the  loyalists.  A  coalition  between  Fox 

JTJXTT-  jjiT-i    Fal1  of  Shel- 

andLord  North  was  now  avowed,  and  although  burne ;  the 

the  address  upon  the  peace  was  most  guarded  mfaistry 
in  its  terms,  amendments  to  it  were  carried,  then  (AP"l  2, 
specific  resolutions  condemning  ministers  on  x> 
account  of  the  peace.  Lord  Shelburne  resigned  (Feb.  23)  ; 
and  as  Pitt  declined  to  form  a  ministry,  a  coalition  cabinet 
was  formed  under  the  Duke  of  Portland,  comprising  Fox 
and   Lord  North  as  secretaries   of   state.     Among   the 
earliest  acts  of  this  ministry  was  the  appointment  of  com 
missioners  to  inquire  into  the  losses  of  the  royalists,  and 
to  allow  half-pay  to  all  who  had  served.     From  first  to 
last  over  1 2,ooo,ooo/.  were  paid  to  them. 

The  discontents  in  the  American  army  were  now  even 
worse  than  ever.  The  chief  grievance  of  the  officers  was 
that  the  half-pay  for  life,  promised  in  1 780,  had  never  been 
paid  or  even  recognised  by  the  requisite  majority  of  States. 


208     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

The  officers  offered  to  commute  their  claim  for  a  fixed 
Discontents  sum  >  ^ut  a  majority  of  States  could  not  be  ob- 
of  Washing-  tained  even  for  this  proposal.  A  meeting  of 

ton's  officers. 

Cessation  of  officers  was  summoned,  at  which  resolutions 
(A^riU^  were  to  be  offered  that  might  have  led  to  civil 
1783)-  war.  Washington  came  himself  to  the  meeting 

and  read  an  address,  in  which  he  urged  patience,  and 
pledged  himself  to  leave  nothing  untried  to  obtain  redress. 
The  very  next  day  news  reached  Philadelphia  of  the 
signature  of  the  peace,  and  rather  more  than  a  month 
later  Congress  issued  a  proclamation  for  the  cessation  of 
hostilities. 

But  it  proved  almost  as  difficult  to  put  an  end  to  hos 
tilities  as  to  continue  them.  The  troops  remained  always 
Congress  unpaid.  Washington  discharged  at  once  on 
byrmued-ed  furlough  all  who  had  the  means  of  returning 
neers.  home,  and  many  who  were  willing  to  go  with 

out  means.  But  one  company  of  Pennsylvanian  recruits 
marched  to  the  State  House  of  Philadelphia,  threaten 
ing  the  Congress  with  their  vengeance  if  their  claims 
were  not  satisfied,  and  Washington  had  to  send  a  de 
tachment  to  disperse  them  and  arrest  their  chiefs.  With 
the  British  still  in  New  York,  Congress  had  actually  to 
withdraw  to  Princeton  in  order  to  be  out  of  the  way  of  its 
mutinous  soldiers.  It  was  owing  to  Washington  alone  that 
the  whole  army  did  not  throw  down  its  arms.  Four 
months'  pay  out  of  the  long  arrears  was  all  that  Robert 
Morris  could  find  to  pay  it. 

After  the  ratification  of  the  treaties  between  Great 
Ratification  Britain,  France,  Spain,  and  America,  Congress 
of  the  disbanded  the  army,  with  the  exception  of  a 

Septembers,  small  forcewhich  had  been  enlisted  fora  definite 
skfvV  the  time-  sir  Guy  Carleton  had  already  received 
question.  orders  to  evacuate  New  York.  Some  months 
elapsed,  however,  during  which  arrangements  had  to  be 


1783.  Second  Period.  209 

made  for  enabling  the  loyalists  to  emigrate,  and  also,  sad 
to  say,  for  the  restoration  of  slaves,  an  article  of  the  treaty 
prohibiting  the  British  from  'carrying  away  any  negroes  or 
other  property  of  the  inhabitants/  It  is  not  a  little  painful 
to  find  Franklin,  the  professed  opponent  of  slavery,  com 
plaining  to  his  colleague,  Henry  Laurens,  that  General 
Carleton  '  has  sent  away  a  great  number  of  negroes,  al 
leging  that  freedom  having  been  promised  them  by  a 
proclamation,  the  honour  of  the  nation  was  concerned/ 
Sir  Guy  Carleton,  it  seems,  took  up  the  position,  which 
appears  correct  in  point  of  law,  that  the  article  of  the 
treaty  could  apply  only  to  captured  negroes,  and  not  to 
such  as  had  voluntarily  joined  the  British ;  but  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  many  an  unfortunate  negro  did  not  receive 
from  his  subordinates  the  benefit  of  the  distinction.  It 
must  indeed  be  admitted  with  shame  that  the  worst  feature 
of  the  war  on  the  British  side  was  their  treatment  of  the 
negroes. 

All  difficulties  were,  however,  at  last  surmounted  ;  and 
on  November  25,  1783  (observed  still  in  New  York  as 
'  Evacuation  Day7)  the  British  troops  left  _ 

XT          -IT     i     ITT     i  •  •  i     i  •     f  Evacuation 

New  York,  Washington  with  his  forces  enter-  of  New 
ing  the   city  at   the    same    time.     Thus  was  y^ber^s, 
consummated  that    great    disruption    of   the  1783- 
British    race   which    has   placed    two    English-speaking 
peoples  instead  of  one  on  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic,  and 
has  shown  that,  alone  as  yet  among  the  races  of  the  earth, 
it  is  equally  capable  of  self-government  under  republican 
institutions   or   under  a  king.     We  may  rejoice   in  the 
result,  and  see  God's  hand  in  it.     Yet  we  cannot  but  feel 
that  the  disruption  was  unnecessary ;  that  not  only  the 
same,  but  even  a  less  measure  of  qualified  independence 
than  that  which  is  now  enjoyed  by  all  the  larger  colo 
nies  of  England  would  have  preserved  all  the  American 
colonies  in  joyful   allegiance.     The  Canadian  Dominion 
M.  H.  p 


2io     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

is  nearly  as  populous  as  the  thirteen  original  States 
when  they  revolted,  and  far  more  extensive  than  they 
then  were.  The  Australian  group  of  colonies  is  like 
wise  more  extensive,  whilst  far  more  distant.  New 
England,  Virginia,  the  Carolinas  were  as  anxious  to 
remain  united  with  Great  Britain  in  1774  as  any  British 
colony  in  1874.  The  very  names  of (  Whigs'  and  f  Tories, 
applied  throughout  the  war  to  the  contending  parties  in 
America,  show  that  the  struggle  was  considered  a  mere 
extension  of  party  divisions  in  England,  rather  than  a 
war  between  people  and  people. 

On  December  4  Washington  took  leave  of  his  officers 
'  with  a  heart  full  of  love  and  gratitude/  devoutly  wishing 

Washin  ^^  ^^ latter  ^ays  m^nt  ^e  '  prosperous  and 
ton't  fare-  happy/  as  their  former  ones  had  been  <  glorious 
office^  I1  he  and  honourable/  Leaving  them  in  tears,  he 
is  thanked  crossed  over  to  New  Jersey,  on  his  way  to 
Philadelphia  and  to  Annapolis,  where  Congress 
was  then  sitting.  At  Philadelphia  he  gave  in  to  the  comp 
troller  of  finance  a  detailed  statement  in  his  own  hand 
of  his  expenses  during  the  war;  he  had  renounced  from 
the  first,  it  will  be  recollected,  all  claim  to  pay.  They 
amounted  to  H,479/.  i8j.  9^.,  besides  288/.  interest  on 
a  certain  balance  due  to  him  December  31, 1776— a  cheap 
price  for  making  a  nation.  He  reached  Annapolis  on 
December  19,  and  four  days  afterwards  surrendered  his 
commission  to  Congress.  By  a  strange  retribution,  the 
President  of  Congress,  General  Mifflin,  was  one  of  those 
officers  who  had  caballed  against  him.  Mifflin  had  now  to 
offer  the  thanks  of  the  country  to  the  chief  whose  tran 
scendent  services  he  had  vainly  endeavoured  in  former 
days  to  depreciate. 

The  war  had  cost  America  135,000,000  dollars,  or  say 
Cost  of  the  over  37>ooo,ooo/.,  besides  outstanding  debts 
war.  to  the  amount  of  40,000,000  dollars,  or  say 

9,ooo,ooo/.     But  to  Great  Britain  it  had  cost  I4o,ooo,ooo/. 


NORTH  AMERICA; 

after   the  War 


Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  London,  New  Tbrk  &  Bombay. 


1 783.  Second  Period.  211 

of  which  H5,ooo,ooo/.  were  added  to  the  principal 
of  her  debt.  The  debt  itself  now  amounted  to  nearly 
245,ooo,ooo/.,  bearing  something  over  9,3oo,ooo/.  in 
terest. 

Take  it  all  in  all,  the  result  had  been  by  no  means 
discreditable  to  England.  She  had  failed  indeed,  thank 
God,  in  a  task  unworthy  of  herself,  which  she 
should  never  have  undertaken.  But  whilst  en-  gland  had 
gaged  in  the  task  she  had  held  her  own  against  done' 
three  European  enemies  at  once,  and  in  the  far  East 
against  the  most  formidable  native  foes  she  ever  met  in 
India,  the  Mysore  princes ;  and  the  upshot  of  it  all,  beyond 
American  independence,  had  been  the  loss  of  a  small  West 
India  island,  of  almost  uninhabited  Florida,  and  of  an 
island  in  the  Mediterranean  never  rightly  her  own.  Whilst 
she  had  gained  a  rich  town  in  India,  she  had  almost 
annihilated  the  fleets  of  France  and  Spain.  She  left 
America  bankrupt,  France  and  Spain  on  the  verge  of 
bankruptcy,  whilst  the  skill  of  her  great  industrial  in 
ventors  and  the  subtle  fingers  of  her  artisans  were  deve 
loping  within  her  a  material  prosperity  soon  to  surpas? 
anything  she  had  ever  known. 

We  began  by  considering  the  position  of  the  Red  man, 
the  White  man,  and  the  Black  man  at  the  com-  Results  of 
mencement  of  the  struggle.  Let  us  consider  it  ^  different 
again  at  its  close.  races. 

The  Red  man  had  unluckily  attached  himself  to  the 
losing  side.  He  has  taken  perhaps  a  few  hundred  scalps 
of  pale-faces.  But  from  the  Susquehannah  to  (l>  The  Red 
the  Genesee,  the  Iroquois  country  has  been 
made  desolate,  and  no  Indian  cornfields  will 
ever  again  wave  over  it.  More  to  the  west  the  Illinois 
tribes  have  been  subdued  by  Virginia.  Fort  Jefferson 
has  been  established  (1780)  on  the  Mississippi,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  a  menace  to  all  the  Red  men  of  the 


212      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D 

far  West.     Further  south,  the  country  of  the  Cherokees 
and  their  allies  has  been  laid  waste. 

Wherever  the  Red  man  has  fallen  back,  the  White  man 
has  advanced.  Counties  have  been  organised  (Kentucky 
and  Illinois)  which  will  become  States,  and  form  more 
States  by  subdivision.  The  tide  of  emigration  has  flowed 
well  over  the  Alleghanies,  and  has  reached  the  Mississippi 
at  more  than  one  point  of  its  course.  Three 

(2)  Advance        .    .,.       ,  .  ,      ..  . .    .  ,       . 

of  the  White  civilised  powers  instead  of  two  now  divide  the 
man.  North  American    continent.     The    American 

confederation  stands  henceforth  between  England,  and 
Spain. 

The  Black  man — has  he  gained  or  lost  ?  It  seemed 
at  first  as  if  he  would  gain.  The  mulatto  Attucks  was 
(s)  The  one  °f  tne  victmis  °f  tne  Boston  massacre, 
Black  man ;  and  was  buried  with  honour  among  the 
from  theS°  '  martyrs  of  liberty/  At  the  first  call  to 
Americans.  arms  the  negroes  freeiy  enlisted  ;  but  a  meet 
ing  of  the  general  officers  decided  against  their  enlist 
ment  in  the  new  army  of  1775.  The  free  negroes  were 
greatly  dissatisfied.  Lest  they  should  transfer  their  ser 
vices  to  the  British,  Washington  gave  leave  to  enlist 
them,  and  it  is  certain  that  they  served  throughout  the 
war,  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  white  men.  At  the  battle 
of  Monmouth  there  were  more  than  700  black  men  in  the 
field.  Rhode  Island  formed  a  battalion  of  negroes,  giving 
liberty  to  every  slave  enlisting,  with  compensation  to  his 
owner  ;  and  the  battalion  did  good  service.  But  Wash 
ington  always  considered  the  policy  of  arming  slaves  '  a 
moot  point/  unless  the  enemy  set  the  example ;  and 
though  Congress  recommended  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina  to  raise  3,000  negroes  for  the  war,  giving  full 
1  compensation  to  the  proprietors  of  such  negroes/  South 
Carolina  refused  to  do  so,  and  Georgia  had  been  already 
overrun  by  the  British  when  the  advice  was  brought. 


1 775-^4.  Second  Period.  213 

Notwithstanding  the  early  adoption  of  a  resolution  against 
the  importation  of  slaves  into  any  of  the  thirteen  colonies 
(April  6,  1776),  Jefferson's  fervid  paragraph  condemning 
the  slave-trade,  and  by  implication  slavery,  was  struck  out 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  in  deference  to 
South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  a  member  from  South 
Carolina  declared  that  '  if  property  in  slaves  should  be 
questioned  there  must  be  an  end  to  confederation/  The 
resolution  of  Congress  itself  against  the  slave-trade  bound 
no  single  State,  although  a  law  to  this  effect  was  adopted 
by  Virginia  in  1778,  and  subsequently  by  all  the  other 
States ;  but  this  was  so  entirely  a  matter  of  State-concern 
ment  that  neither  was  any  prohibition  of  the  trade 
contained  in  the  articles  of  confederation,  nor  was  any 
suffered  to  be  inserted  in  the  treaty  of  peace.  The 
feeling  against  slavery  itself  was  strong  in  the  North. 
Vermont,  in  forming  a  constitution  for  herself  in  1777, 
allowed  no  slavery,  and  was  punished  for  doing  so  when 
she  applied  for  admission  as  a  State  with  the  consent 
of  New  York,  from  which  she  had  seceded  in  1781; 
the  Southern  States  refusing  to  admit  her  for  the  present, 
lest  the  balance  of  power  should  be  destroyed.  Massa 
chusetts  and  Pennsylvania,  directly  or  indirectly,  abolished 
slavery  in  1780,  New  Hampshire  in  1783.  They  were 
followed  the  next  year  by  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island, 
so  that  by  1784  slavery  would  be  practically  at  an  end  in 
New  England  and  Pennsylvania.  Other  States,  Virginia, 
Delaware,  New  Jersey,  went  no  further  than  to  pass  laws 
for  allowing  voluntary  emancipation.  In  strange  con 
trast  to  these,  Virginia  is  found  in  1780  offering  a 
negro  by  way  of  bounty  to  any  white  man  enlisting  for 
the  war.  The  great  Virginians  of  the  day,  however — 
Jefferson,  Patrick  Henry,  George  Mason — were  opposed 
to  slavery,  and  large  numbers  of  slaves  were  emancipated 
in  the  State. 


214     Tlie  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

So  much  and  no  more  did  the  Black  men  get  from  the 
Americans.  It  seemed  at  first,  when  Lord  Dunmore  issued 
The  Black  his  proclamation  offering  freedom  to  all  slaves 
SSuld  by  who  should  j°in  the  British  standard,  as  if  they 
the  English,  were  to  get  much  more  from  England.  Ac 
cordingly,  Governor  Rutledge  of  South  Carolina  declared 
in  1780  that  the  negroes  offered  up  their  prayers  in  favour 
of  England.  But  although  Lord  Dunmore  persisted  in 
recommending  the  arming  and  emancipation  of  the  blacks, 
neither  the  ministry  at  home  nor  the  British  officers  would 
enter  into  the  plan.  Lord  George-' Germain  authorised  the 
confiscation  and  sale  of  slaves,  even  of  those  who  voluntarily 
followed  the  troops.  Indians  were  encouraged  to  catch 
them  and  bring  them  in  ;  they  were  distributed  as  prizes, 
and  shipped  to  the  West  Indies,  2,000  at  one  time,  being- 
valued  at  250  silver  dollars  each.  The  English  name 
became  a  terror  to  the  black  man,  and  when  Greene  took 
the  command  they  flocked  in  numbers  to  his  standard. 
We  have  seen,  finally,  how  the  terms  of  the  peace  forbade 
the  British  troops  to  carry  away  '  negroes  or  other  pro 
perty.'  Whichever  side  he  might  fight  for,  the  poor 
black  man  earned  no  gratitude. 

Yet  in  little  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  century,  the 
political  complications  arising  out  of  the  wrongs  inflicted 
How  the  on  m'm  were  to  involve  the  States  that  had  just 
Black  man's  Vvon  their  independence  in  a  civil  war,  in  com- 
avenjethem-  parison  with  which  the  struggle  to  throw  off 
selves.  ^e  yOke  Of  the  mother  country  would  appear 

almost  as  child's  play. 


i 779-81.  Its  true  Character.  215 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  PARADOXES  OF  THE  WAR,  AND   ITS  TRUE 
CHARACTER. 

PARADOXICAL  as  it  may  seem,  two  things  must  equally 
surprise  the  reader  on  studying  the  history  of  the  war  of 
American  independence, — the  first,  that  Eng-  England's 
land  should  ever  have  considered  it  possible  to  succe.ss 

seemingly 

succeed  in  subduing  her  revolted  colonies  ;  the  impossible, 
second,  that  she  should  not  have  succeeded  in  doing  so. 
At  a  time  when  steam  had  not  yet  bafHed  the  winds,  to 
dream  of  conquering  by  force  of  arms  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic  a  people  of  English  race  numbering  between 
3,000,000  and  4,000,000,  with  something  like  1,200  miles 
of  seaboard,  was  surely  an  act  of  enormous  folly. 
Horace  Walpole  had  wittily  said,  at  the  very  commence 
ment  of  the  so-called  rebellion,  that  '  if  computed  by  the 
tract  of  the  country  it  occupies,  we,  as  so  diminutive  in 
comparison,  ought  rather  to  be  called  in  rebellion  to 
that.'  We  have  seen  in  our  own  days  the  difficulties 
experienced  by  the  far  more  powerful  and  populous 
Northern  States  in  quelling  the  secession  of  the  Southern, 
when  between  the  two  there  was  no  other  frontier  than  at 
most  a  river,  very  often  a  mere  ideal  line,  and  when  armies 
could  be  raised  by  a  hundred  thousand  men  at  a  time. 
England  attempted  a  far  more  difficult  task  with  forces 
which,  till  1781,  never  reached  35,000  men,  and  never 
exceeded  42,075,  including  l  provincials/  t.e.  American 
loyalists. 

Yet  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that,  not  once  only,  but 
repeatedly  during  the  course  of  the  struggle,  England 
England  was  on  the  verge  of  triumph.     The  was,often 

0    .  .  on  the  verge 

American  armies  were  perpetually  melting  away  of  triumph. 
before  the  enemy,  directly  through  the  practice  of  short 


216     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

enlistments,  indirectly  through  desertions.  These  deser 
tions,  if  they  might  be  often  palliated  by  the  straits  to  which 
the  men  were  reduced  through  arrears  of  pay  and  want  of 
supplies,  arose  in  other  cases,  as  after  the  retreat  from  New 
York,  from  sheer  loss  of  heart  in  the  cause.  The  main  army 
under  Washington  was  seldom  even  equal  in  number  to 
that  opposed  to  him.  In  the  winter  of  1776-77,  when  his 
troops  were  only  about  4,000  strong,  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  it  was  that  Sir  W.  Howe,  with  more 
than  double  the  number,  should  have  failed  to  annihilate 
the  American  army.  In  the  winter  of  1 777-8  the  '  dreadful 
situation  of  the  army  for  want  of  provisions '  made  Wash 
ington  '  admire  '  that  they  should  not  have  been  excited 
to  a  general  mutiny  and  desertion.  In  May  1779 
he  hardly  knew  any  resource  for  the  American  cause 
except  in  reinforcements  from  France,  and  did  not  know 
what  might  be  the  consequence  if  the  enemy  had  it 
in  their  power  to  press  the  troops  hard  in  the  ensuing 
campaign.  In  December  of  that  year  his  forces  were 
1  mouldering  away  daily/  and  he  considered  that  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  with  more  than  twice  his  numbers,  could 
'  not  justify  remaining  inactive  with  a  force  so  superior.'  A 
year  later,  he  was  compelled  for  want  of  clothing  to 
discharge  the  levies  which  he  had  always  so  much  trouble 
in  obtaining,  and  '  want  of  flour  would  have  disbanded 
the  whole  army '  if  he  had  not  adopted  this  expedient. 
In  March  1781,  again,  the  crisis  was  '  perilous/  and 
though  he  did  not  doubt  the  happy  issue  of  the  con 
test,  he  considered  that  the  period  for  its  accomplish 
ment  might  be  too  far  distant  for  a  person  of  his 
years.  In  April  he  wrote  :  '  We  cannot  transport  the 
provisions  from  the  States  in  which  they  are  assessed 
to  the  army,  because  we  cannot  pay  the  teamsters, 
who  will  no  longer  work  for  certificates.  It  is  equally 
certain  that  our  troops  are  approaching  fast  to  naked- 


1 7 79-8 1  Its  true  Character.  217 

ness,  and  that  we  have  nothing  to  clothe  them  with; 
that  our  hospitals  are  without  medicines,  and  our  sick 
without  nutriment  except  such  as  well  men  eat ;  and 
that  all  our  public  works  are  at  a  stand  and  the  artificers 
disbanding.  ...  It  may  be  declared  in  a  word  that  we 
are  at  the  end  of  our  tether,  and  that  now  or  never  our 
deliverance  must  come.'  Six  months  later,  when  York- 
town  capitulated,  the  British  forces  still  remaining  in 
North  America  after  the  surrender  of  that  garrison  were 
more  considerable  than  they  had  been  as  late  as  February 
1779 :  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton  even  then  declared  that  with  a 
reinforcement  of  10,000  men  he  would  be  responsible  for 
the  conquest  of  America. 

How  shall  we  explain   either  puzzle  ?  that  England 
should  have  so  nearly  missed  success,  to  fail  at  puzzies  to  be 
last ;  or  that  America  should  have  succeeded,  explained, 
after  having   been  almost  constantly  on  the  brink    of 
failure  ? 

The  main  hope  of  success  on  the  English  side  lay  in 
the  idea  that  the  spirit  and  acts  of  resistance  to  the 
authority  of  the  mother-country  were  in  reality  Reliance  of 
only  on  the  part  of  a  turbulent  minority  ;  onethenglish 
that  the  bulk  of  the  people  desired  to  be  loyal,  loyalists. 
It  is  certain  indeed  that  the  struggle  was,  in  America 
itself,  much  more  of  a  civil  war  than  the  Americans  are 
now  generally  disposed  to  admit.  In  December  1780 
there  were  8,954  <  provincials '  among  the  British  forces 
in  America,  and  on  March  7,  1781,  a  letter  from  Lord 
George  Germain  to  Sir  H.  Clinton,  intercepted  by  the 
Americans,  says  :  '  The  American  levies  in  the  king's 
service  are  more  in  number  than  the  whole  of  the 
enlisted  troops  in  the  service  of  the  Congress/  As  late 
as  September  i,  1781,  there  were  7,241.  We  hear  of 
'loyal  associators'  in  Massachusetts,  Maryland,  and 
Pennsylvania,  of '  associated  loyalists '  in  New  York,  of  a 


2i8     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

fort  built  and  maintained  by  '  associated  refugees/  and 
everywhere  of 'Tories/  whose  arrest  Washington  is  found 
suggesting  to  Governor  Trumbull  of  Connecticut  as 
early  as  November  12,  1775.  New  England  may  indeed 
be  considered  to  have  been  cleared  of  active  opposition 
to  the  American  cause  when  more  than  1,000  refugees 
left  Boston  in  March  1776  with  the  British  troops.  But 
New  York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  remained  long 
full  of  Tories.  By  June  28,  1776,  the  disaffected  on  Long 
Island  had  taken  up  arms,  and  after  the  evacuation  of 
New  York  by  Washington  a  brigade  of  loyalists  was 
raised  on  the  island,  and  companies  were  formed  in  two 
neighbouring  counties  to  join  the  king's  troops.  During 
Washington's  retreat  through  New  Jersey  'the  inhabi 
tants,  either  from  fear  or  disaffection,  almost  to  a  man 
refused  to  turn  out/  In  Pennsylvania  the  militia,  instead 
of  giving  any  assistance  in  repelling  the  British,  exulted 
at  their  approach,  and  over  the  misfortunes  of  their 
countrymen.  On  the  2oth  of  that  month  the  British 
were  '  daily  gathering  strength  from  the  disaffected.' 
In  1777  the  Tories  who  joined  Burgoyne  in  his  invasion 
from  the  north  are  said  to  have  doubled  his  force.  In 
1778  Tories  joined  the  Indians  in  the  devastation  of  Wyo 
ming  and  Cherry  Valley  ;  and  although  the  indiscriminate 
ravages  of  the  British,  or  of  the  Germans  in  their  pay,  seem 
to  have  roused  the  three  States  above-mentioned  to  self- 
defence,  yet,  as  late  as  May  1 780  Washington  still  speaks 
of  sending  a  small  party  of  cavalry  to  escort  La  Fayette 
(  safely  through  the  Tory  settlements '  of  New  York.  Vir 
ginia,  as  late  as  the  spring  of  1776,  was  'alarmed  at  the 
idea  of  independence  ; '  Washington  admitted  that  his 
countrymen  (of  that  State)  <  from  their  form  of  govern 
ment,  and  steady  attachment  heretofore  to  royalty/  would 
•  come  reluctantly '  to  that  idea,  but  trusted  to  '  time  and 
persecution.'  In  1781  the  ground  for  transferring  the  seat 


1776-84.  Its  true  Character.  219 

of  war  to  the  Chesapeake  was  the  number  of  loyalists  in 
that  quarter.  In  the  Southern  States  the  division  of  feel 
ing  was  still  greater.  In  the  Carolinas,  a  loyalist  regiment 
was  raised  in  a  few  days  in  1776,  and  again  in  1779.  In 
Georgia,  in  South  Carolina,  the  bitterest  partisan  warfare 
was  carried  on  between  the  Whig  and  Tory  bands ;  and 
a  body  of  New  York  Tories  contributed  powerfully  to  the 
fall  of  Savannah  in  1778  by  taking  the  American  forces 
in  the  rear. 

On  the  other  hand  it  is  unquestionable  that  in  the 
extent  and  quality  of  the  support  which  they  met  with, 
the  British  generals  were  cruelly  disappointed.  Up  to 
May  1778  General  Howe  has  declared  that  in  13  corps 
raised,  with  a  nominal  strength  of  6,500  men,  the  whole 
number  amounted  only  to  3,609,  of  whom  only  inadequate 
a  small  proportion  were  Americans,  and  that  JU^J01^. 
'  all  the  force  that  could  be  collected  in  Penn-  forded  by  the 
sylvania,  after  the  most  indefatigable  exertions 
during  eight  months/  was  only  974  men.  Of  the  far 
more  numerous  loyalist  levies  in  the  south,  Lord  Cornwallre 
speaks  in  the  most  disparaging  terms.  A  whole  regiment 
in  South  Carolina  marched  off  on  one  occasion  in  a  body. 
Speaking  of  the  friends  to  the  British  cause  in  North 
Carolina,  he  wrote,  '  If  they  are  as  dastardly  and  pusillani 
mous  as  our  friends  to  the  southward,  we  must  leave  them 
to  their  fate.'  At  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Guilford  Court 
House  (1781)  the  idea  of  such  friends  '  rising  in  any 
number  and  to  any  purpose  had  totally  failed/  No  'pro 
vincial'  general  ever  rose  to  eminence  on  the  British  side, 
although  more  than  one  was  appointed,  and  it  is  clear 
that  if  the  struggle  was  so  long  protracted,  it  was  not 
through  the  valour  or  constancy  of  the  loyalists. 

The  real  causes  of  its  protraction — though  it  may  be 
hard  to  an  American  to  admit  the  fact — lay  in  the  inca 
pacity  of  American  politicians*  and,  it  must  be  added,  in 


22O      The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

the  supineness  and  want  of  patriotism  of  the  American 
incapacity  people.  If,  indeed,  importing  into  the  struggle 
rUarf  *SS*~  v^ews  °^  a  later  date,  we  look  upon  it  as  one  be- 
ticians.  tween  two  nations,  the  mismanagement  of  the 
war  by  the  Americans,  on  all  points  save  one — the  retention 
of  Washington  in  the  chief  command — is  seen  to  have  been 
so  pitiable  from  first  to  last  as  to  be  in  fact  almost  unintel 
ligible.  We  only  understand  the  case  when  we  see  that 
there  was  no  such  thing  as  an  American  nation  in  exist 
ence,  but  only  a  number  of  revolted  colonies,  jealous  of 
one  another,  and  with  no  tie  but  that  of  a  common  danger. 
Even  in  the  army  divisions  broke  out.  Washington,  in  a 
general  order  of  August  i,  1776,  says  :  '  It  is  with  great 
concern  that  the  general  understands  that  jealousies  have 
arisen  among  the  troops  from  the  different  provinces, 
and  reflections  are  frequently  thrown  out  which  can 
only  tend  to  irritate  each  other  and  injure  the  noble 
cause  in  which  we  are  engaged.'  It  was  seldom  that 
much  help  could  be  obtained  in  troops  from  any  State, 
unless  that  State  were  immediately  threatened  by  the 
enemy ;  and  even  then  these  troops  would  be  raised  by 
that  State  for  its  own  defence,  irrespectively  of  the 
general  or  '  continental  army/  '  Those  at  a  distance 
from  the  seat  of  war/  wrote  Washington  in  April  1778, 
1  live  in  such  perfect  tranquillity  that  they  conceive  the 
dispute  to  be  in  a  manner  at  an  end  ;  and  those  near  it  are 
so  disaffected  that  they  serve  only  as  embarrassments/  In 
January  1779  we  find  him  remonstrating  with  the  Governor 
of  Rhode  Island  because  that  State  had  '  ordered  several 
battalions  to  be  raised  for  the  defence  of  the  State  only, 
and  this  before  proper  measures  are  taken  to  fill  the  con 
tinental  regiments.'  The  different  bounties  and  rates  of 
pay  allowed  by  the  various  States  were  a  constant  source 
of  annoyance  to  him.  After  the  first  year,  the  best  men  were 
not  returned  to  Congress,  or  did  not  return  to  it.  Whole 


'777-85 •  I*s  true  Character.  221 

States  remained  frequently  unrepresented.  In  the  winter 
of  1777-78  Congress  was  reduced  to  21  members.  But 
even  with  a  full  representation  it  could  do  little.  '  One 
State  will  comply  with  a  requisition  of  Congress/  writes 
Washington  in  1780,  '  another  neglects  to  do  it,  a  third 
executes  it  by  halves,  and  all  differ  either  in  the  manner, 
the  matter,  or  so  much  in  point  of  time,  that  we  are  always 
working  up  hill.7  At  first  Congress  was  really  nothing 
more  than  a  voluntary  committee.  When  the  Con 
federation  was  completed  —  which  was  only,  be  it  re 
membered,  on  March  I,  1781 — it  was  still,  as  Washington 
wrote  in  1785,  'little  more  than  a  shadow  without  the 
substance,  and  the  Congress  a  nugatory  body;'  or,  as  it 
was  described  by  a  later  writer,  '  powerless  for  govern 
ment,  and  a  rope  of  sand  for  union.' 

Like  politicians,  like  people.      There  was  no  doubt 
a  brilliant  display  of  patriotic  ardour  at  the  first  flying  to 
arms  of  the  colonists.     Lexington  and  Bunker  supineness 
Hill  were  actions  decidedly  creditable  to  their  and  want  of 

. J  patriotism  of 

raw  troops.  The  expedition  to  Canada,  fool-  the  people. 
hardy  though  it  proved,  was  pursued  up  to  a  certain  point 
with  real  heroism.  But  with  it  the  heroic  period  of  the 
war  (individual  instances  excepted)  may  be  said  to  have 
closed.  There  seems  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the  re 
volution  would  never  have  been  commenced  if  it  had 
been  expected  to  cost  so  tough  a  struggle.  '  A  false  esti 
mate  of  the  power  and  perseverance  of  our  enemies,'  wrote 
James  Duane  to  Washington, l  was  friendly  to  the  present 
revolution,  and  inspired  that  confidence  of  success  in  all 
ranks  of  people  which  was  necessary  to  unite  them  in 
so  arduous  a  cause.'  As  early  as  November  1775,  Wash 
ington  wrote,  speaking  of  military  arrangements,  '  Such 
a  dearth  of  public  spirit,  and  such  want  oY  virtue,  such 
stock-jobbing  and  fertility  in  all  the  low  arts  to  obtain  ad 
vantages  of  one  kind  or  another  ...  I  never  saw  before,  and 


222     The  War  of  American  Independence.     A.D. 

pray  God's  mercy  that  I  may  never  be  witness  to  again/ 
Such  '  a  mercenary  spirit '  pervaded  the  whole  of  the 
troops,  that  he  should  not  have  been  '  at  all  surprised  at 
any  disaster/  At  the  same  date,  besides  desertions  of 
30  or  40  soldiers  at  a  time,  he  speaks  of  the  practice  of 
plundering  as  so  rife  that  '  no  man  is  secure  in  his  effects, 
and  scarcely  in  his  person.'  People  were  '  frightened  out 
of  their  houses  under  pretence  of  those  houses  being 
ordered  to  be  burnt .  .  .  with  a  view  of  seizing  the  goods ;' 
and  to  conceal  the  villany  more  effectually  some  houses 
were  actually  burnt  down.  On  February  28,  1777,  '  the 
scandalous  loss,  waste,  and  private  appropriation  of  public 
arms  during  the  last  campaign/  had  been  <  beyond  all 
conception.'  Officers  drew  Marge  sums  under  pretence 
of  paying  their  men,'  and  appropriated  them.  In  one  case 
an  officer  led  his  men  to  robbery,  offered  resistance  to  a 
brigade-major  who  ordered  him  to  return  the  goods,  and 
was  only  with  difficulty  cashiered.  '  Can  we  carry  on  the 
war  much  longer?'  Washington  asks  in  1778 — after  the 
treaty  with  France  and  the  appearance  of  a  French  fleet  off 
the  coast.  '  Certainly  not,  unless  some  measures  can  be 
devised  and  speedily  executed  to.  restore  the  credit  of  our 
currency,  restrain  extortion,  and  punish  forestallers.'  A 
few  days  later,  'To  make  and  extort  money  in  every  shape 
that  can  be  devised,  and  at  the  same  time  to  decry  its  value, 
seems  to  have  become  a  mere  business  and  an  epidemical 
disease.'  On  December  30,  1 778,  <  speculation,  peculation, 
and  an  insatiable  thirst  for  riches  seem  to  have  got  the 
better  of  every  other  consideration,  and  almost  of  every 
order  of  men ;  .  .  .  party  disputes  and  personal  quarrels 
are  the  great  business  of  the  day ;  whilst  the  momentous 
concerns  of  an  empire,  a  great  and  accumulating  debt, 
ruined  finances,  depreciated  money,  and  want  of  credit, 
which  in  its  consequences  is  the  want  of  everything,  are 
but  secondary  considerations,' 


1778-82.  Its  true  Character.  223 

After  a  first  loan  had  been  obtained  from  France  and 
spent,  and  a  further  one  was  granted  in  1782,  so  utterly 
unpatriotic  and  selfish  was  known  to  be  the  temper  of  the 
people  that  the  loan  had  to  be  kept  secret,  in  order  not  to 
diminish  such  efforts  as  might  be  made  by  the  Americans 
themselves.  On  July  10  of  that  year,  with  New  York 
and  Charleston  still  in  British  hands,  Washington  writes : 
'  That  spirit  of  freedom  which  at  the  commencement  of  . 
this  contest  would  have  gladly  sacrificed  everything  to  the 
attainment  of  its  object,  has  long  since  subsided,  and 
every  selfish  passion  has  taken  its  place.'  But  indeed 
the  mere  fact  that  from  the  date  of  the  battle  of  Mon- 
mouth  (July  28,  1778),  Washington  was  never  supplied 
with  sufficient  means,  even  with  the  assistance  of  French 
fleets  and  troops,  to  strike  one  blow  at  the  English  in 
New  York — though  these  were  but  very  sparingly  rein 
forced  during  the  period — shows  an  absence  of  public 
spirit,  one  might  almost  say  of  national  shame,  scarcely 
conceivable,  and  in  singular  contrast  with  the  terrible 
earnestness  exhibited  on  both  sides  some  eighty  years, 
later  in  the  Secession  War. 

Why,  then,  must  we  ask  on  the  other  side,  why  did 
did  England  fail  at  last  ?  Engiandfaii? 

The  English  were  prone  to  attribute  their  ill  success 
to  the  incompetency  of  their  generals.  Lord  North,  with 
his  quaint  humour,  would  say,  ( I  do  not  know  incompe- 
whether  our  generals  will  frighten  the  enemy,  gj-t jshf  ene 
but  I  know  they  frighten  me  whenever  I  think  rais  no  suffi- 
of  them.'  When,  in  1778,  Lord  Carlisle  came  cient  reason> 
out  as  commissioner,  in  a  letter  speaking  of  the  great 
scale  of  all  things  in  America,  he  says  :  '  We  have 
nothing  on  a  great  scale  with  us  but  our  blunders, 
our  misconduct,  our  ruin,  our  losses,  our  disgraces  and 
misfortunes.'  Pitt,  in  a  speech  of  1781,  aptly  described 
the  war  as  having  been,  on  the  part  of  England,  '  a  series 


224      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

of  ineffective  victories  or  severe  defeats.'  No  doubt  it  is 
difficult  to  account  for  Gage's  early  blunders,  for  Howe's 
repeated  failure  to  follow  up  his  own  success  or  profit  by 
his  enemy's  weakness  ;  and  Cornwallis's  movement,  justly 
censured  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  in  transferring  the  bulk 
of  his  army  from  the  far  south  to  Virginia,  within  march 
ing  distance  of  Washington,  opened  the  way  to  that  crown 
ing  disaster  at  Yorktown,  without  which  it  is  by  no  means 
impossible  that  Georgia  and  the  Carolinas  might  have 
remained  British.  But  no  allowance  for  bad  generalship 
can  account  for  the  failure  of  the  British.  Washington 
and  Greene  appear  to  have  been  the  only  two  American 
generals  of  marked  ability,  though  they  unquestionably 
derived  great  advantage  from  the  talents  of  their  foreign 
allies,  La  Fayette,  Pulaski,  Steuben,  Rochambeau, — and 
Washington  was  more  than  once  out-manoeuvred.  Gates 
evidently  owed  his  one  signal  triumph  to  enormous  supe 
riority  of  numbers  on  his  own  ground,  and  was  as  signally 
defeated,  under  circumstances  infinitely  less  creditable  to 
him  than  those  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  Lee's  vaunted 
abilities  came  to  nothing. 

Political    incapacity   was    of    course    charged  upon 

ministers  as  another  cause  of  disaster  ;   and  no  doubt 

their   miscalculation    of   the   severity  of   the 

bcapachy1     struggle  was  almost  childish.     When  Parlia- 

no  sufficient    ment  met  in  the  autumn  of  1776 — i.e.  after  the 

reason. 

Declaration  of  Independence  had  gone  forth 
to  the  world — it  was  held  out  in  the  king's  speech  that 
another  campaign  would  be  sufficient  to  end  the  war, 
whilst  in  spite  of  all  the  warnings  of  the  Opposition,  they 
persisted  in  blinding  themselves  to  the  force  of  the  tempta 
tions  which  must  inevitably  bring  down  France,  if  not 
Spain,  into  the  lists  against  them,  until  the  treaties  of  these 
powers  with  America  were  actually  concluded  The  forces 
sent  out  were  miserably  inadequate  for  a  war  on  so  large 


1776-80.  Tts  true  Character.  225 

a  scale, — 'too  many  to  make  peace,  too  few  to  make  war, 
as  Lord  Chatham  told  the  ministry.  When  for  once  a 
really  considerable  force  was  sent  out  under  Burgoyne, 
it  failed  for  want  of  timely  co-operation  by  Howe,  and 
this  failure  is  stated  (by  Lord  Shelburne)  to  have  arisen 
from  Lord  George  Germain's  not  having  had  patience  to 
wait,  after  signing  the  despatch  to  Burgoyne,  till  that  ta 
Howe  had  been  fair-copied  ;  so  that  instead  of  going  out 
together,  the  second,  owing  to  further  mischances,  did  not 
leave  till  some  time  later.  The  English  generals  com 
plained  almost  as  bitterly  as  the  American  of  the  want 
of  adequate  reinforcements,  and  the  best  of  them,  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  is  found  writing  (1779)  in  a  strain  which 
might  be  mistaken  for  Washington's,  of  his  spirits  being 
'worn  out'  by  the  difficulties  of  his  position.  But  no 
mistakes  in  the  management  of  the  war  by  British  states 
men  can  account  for  their  ultimate  failure.  However  great 
British  mismanagement  may  have  been,  it  was  far  sur 
passed  by  American.  Until  Robert  Morris  took  the 
finances  in  hand,  the  administration  of  them  was  beneath 
not  only  contempt  but  conception.  There  was  nothing 
on  the  British  side  equal  to  that  caricature  of  a  recruiting 
system,  in  which  different  bounties  were  offered  by  Con 
gress,  by  the  States,  by  the  separate  towns,  so  as  to  make 
it  the  interest  of  the  intending  soldier  to  delay  enlistment 
as  long  as  possible  in  order  to  sell  himself  to  the  highest 
bidder ;  to  that  caricature  of  a  war  establishment,  the 
main  bulk  of  which  broke  up  every  twelvemonth  in  front 
of  the  enemy,  which  was  only  paid,  if  at  all,  in  worthless 
paper,  and  left  almost  habitually  without  supplies.  To 
mention  one  fact  only,  commissions  in  British  regiment? 
on  American  soil  continued  to  be  sold  for  large  sums, 
whilst  Washington  !s  officers  were  daily  throwing  up  theirs, 
many  from  sheer  starvation.  On  the  whole,  no  better  idea 
can  be  had  of  the  nature  of  the  struggle  on  the  American 
M.  H.  Q 


226      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

side,  after  the  first  heat  of  it  had  cooled  down,  than  from 
the  words  of  Count  de  Rochambeau,  writing  to  Count  de 
Vergennes,  July  10,  1780 :  'They  have  neither  money  nor 
credit ;  their  means  of  resistance  are  only  momentary, 
and  called  forth  when  they  are  attacked  in  their  own 
homes.  They  then  assemble  for  the  moment  of  imme 
diate  danger  and  defend  themselves/ 

A  far  more  important  cause  in  determining  the 
ultimate  failure  of  the  British  was  the  aid  afforded  by 
importance  France  to  America,  followed  by  that  of  Spain 
of  the  and  Holland.  It  was  impossible  for  England 

soppHed  to  to  reconquer  a  continent,  and  carry  on  war  at 
America.  fae  same  time  with  the  three  most  powerful 
naval  states  of  Europe.  The  instincts  of  race  have 
tended  on  both  the  English  and  the  American  side  to 
depreciate  the  value  of  the  aid  given  by  France  to  the 
colonists.  It  may  be  true  that  Rochambeau's  troops 
which  disembarked  on  Rhode  Island  in  July  1780  did 
not  march  till  July  1781, — that  they  were  blockaded  soon 
after  their  arrival,  threatened  with  attack  from  New 
York,  and  only  disengaged  by  a  feint  of  Washington's  on 
that  city.  But  more  than  two  years  before  their  arrivai 
Washington  wrote  to  a  member  of  Congress,  '  France, 
by  her  supplies,  has  saved  us  from  the  yoke  thus  far.3 
The  treaty  with  France  alone  was  considered  to  afford  a 
'certain  prospect  of  success/ — to  '  secure '  American  in 
dependence.  The  arrival  of  D'Estaing's  fleet,  although 
no  troops  joined  the  American  army,  and  nothing  eventu 
ally  was  done,  determined  the  evacuation  of  Philadelphia. 
The  discipline  of  the  French  troops  when  they  landed  in 
1780  set  an  example  to  the  Americans  ;  chickens  and  pigs 
walked  between  the  lines  without  being  disturbed.  The 
.recruits  of  1780  could  not  have  been  armed  without  50 
tons  of  ammunition  supplied  by  the  French.  In  Sep 
tember  of  that  year,  Washington,  writing  to  the  French 


1781-3.  I**  true  Character.  227 

envoy,  speaks  of  the  '  inability'  of  the  Americans  to  expel 
the  British  from  the  south  '  unassisted,  or  perhaps  even  to 
stop  their  career/  and  he  writes  in  similar  terms  to  Con 
gress  a  few  days  later.  To  depend  '  upon  the  resources 
of  the  country,  unassisted  by  foreign  loans/  he  writes  to 
a  member  of  Congress  two  months  later,  *  will,  I  am  con 
fident,  be  to  lean  upon  a  broken  reed.'  In  January  1781, 
writing  to  Colonel  Laurens,  the  American  envoy  in  Paris, 
he  presses  for  '  an  immediate,  ample,  and  efficacious  suc 
cour  in  money '  from  France,  for  the  maintenance  on  the 
American  coasts  of  '  a  constant  naval  superiority/  and  for 
'  an  additional  succour  in  troops.'  And  since  the  assist 
ance  so  requested  was  in  fact  granted  in  every  shape, 
and  the  surrender  of  Yorkt'own  was  obtained  by  the  co 
operation  both  of  the  French  army  and  fleet,  we  must 
hold  that  Washington's  words  were  justified  by  the 
event. 

The    real  cause,  however,  why  England  The  war 
yielded  in  1782-3  to  her  revolted  colonies  was  th^EngLfa11 
probably  this  :  The  English  nation  at  large  jjjjj.™  hl 
had  never  realised  the  nature  of  the  struggle ;  understood 
when  it  did,  it  refused  to  carry  it  on. 

Enormous  ignorance  no  doubt  prevailed  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  struggle  as  to  the  North  American  colonies. 
They  had  been  till  then  entirely  overshadowed  Earl 
by  the  West  Indies,  which  were  perhaps  at  that  puiarity  of 
time  the  greatest  source  of  English  commercial  result^  e 
wealth  ;  and  the  time  was  not  far  past  when,  ^orance. 
it  is  said,  they  were  supposed  like  the  latter  to  be  chiefly 
inhabited  by  negroes.     The  prominence   of  the  slave- 
colonies  seems  to  have  associated  the  idea  of  colonies 
with  that  of  absolute  government.     Englishmen  did  not 
generally  realise  the  existence  in  North  America  of  vast 
countries  inhabited  by  communities  of  their  own  race, 
which  enjoyed  in  general  a  larger  measure  of  self-govern- 


228     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

merit  than  the  mother-country  herself.  That  a  colony 
should  resist  the  mother-country  seemed  in  a  manner 
preposterous.  It  appears  certain,  therefore,  that  when 
the  war  at  first  broke  out  it  was  popular,  and  that  the 
king  and  Lord  North,  as  has  been  already  stated,  were 
themselves  amazed  at  the  loyal  addresses  which  it  called 
forth. 

But  the  early  resort  to  the  aid  of  German  mercenaries 
showed  that  this  popularity  was  only  skin-deep, — that  the 
The  popu-  heart  of  the  masses  was  not  engaged  in  the 
larityofthe  war.  The  very  employment  of  these  mer- 
but  s£n-r  cenaries,  as  well  as  of  the  Indian  auxiliaries 
deep>  of  the  royal  forces,  tended  to  lower  the 

character  of  the  war  in  English  eyes.  When  Chatham, 
in  his  scathing  invectives,  would  speak  of  the  ministers' 
*  traffic  and  barter  with  every  little  pitiful  German  prince 
that  sells  and  sends  his  subjects  to  the  shambles,7  or  of 
their  sending  '  the  infidel  savage — against  whom  ?  against 
your  Protestant  brethren,  to  lay  waste  their  country,  to 
desolate  their  dwellings,  and  extirpate  their  race  and 
name,'  he  might  not  carry  with  him  the  votes  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  but  his  words  would  burn  their  way  into 
English  hearts. 

That  the  war  with  the  American  colonies  themselves 
was  repugnant  to  the  deepest  feelings  of  the  nation  is 
proved  by  contrast  through  the  sudden  burst 
with  feelings  of  warlike  spirit  which  followed  (1778-9)  on  the 
waaiewkhtby  outbreak  of  war  with  France  and  Spain.  A 
France  and  few  days  before  the  French  treaty  with  America 
was  known,  Horace  Walpole  had  written  to 
Mason  that  the  new  levies  '  don't  come,  consequently 
they  will  not  go.'  By  July  of  the  same  year  he  writes  to 
Sir  Horace  Mann :  '  The  country  is  covered  with  camps. 
In  1776  the  king  had  reviewed  the  Guards  on  Wimbledon 
Common,  and  pulled  off  his  hat  to  them  before  their 


Character.  229 

departure  for  America.  He  had  now  (1779)  to  review 
volunteers.  The  passionate  interest  which  is  hence 
forth  taken  in  so  much  of  the  struggle  as  is  carried  on 
with  foreign  foes,  Keppel's  scarcely  deserved  popularity, 
the  riotous  popular  joy  on  his  acquittal,  the  outburst  of 
universal  rejoicing  over  Rodney's  victories,  show  a 
totally  different  temper  to  that  brought  out  by  either 
victory  or  defeat  in  what  was  now  felt  to  be  a  dread  civil 
war  with  our  American  kinsmen.  Hence  it  was,  no 
doubt,  that  after  the  surrender  of  Yorktown  hostilities 
were  practically  at  an  end  with  America,  whilst  the 
naval  warfare  with  France  and  Spain  was  carried  on  for 
another  twelvemonth,  and  that  the  signing  of  provisional 
articles  of  peace  with  the  United  States  preceded  by 
two  months  that  of  similar  articles  with  France  and 
Spain,  the  armistice  with  Holland  being  of  still  later 
date.  It  may  even  be  conjectured  that  the  outbreak 
of  war  with  France  and  Spain,  instead  of  incensing 
the  mind  of  the  English  people  against  the  Americans, 
rather  gave  different  objects  to  their  angry  passions,  and 
tended  to  diminish  their  bitterness  towards  the  colonists. 
It  must  have  been  a  kind  of  relief  to  Englishmen  to  find 
themselves  fighting  once  more  against  those  whom  they 
considered  hereditary  enemies,  against  men  who  did  not 
speak  their  own  mother-tongue  ;  and  the  wholly  unpro 
voked  character  of  these  foreign  hostilities  would  soften 
men's  feelings  towards  the  stubbornness  of  those  colonists 
of  their  own  blood,  who  after  all  asked  only  to  be  let 
alone.  It  is  moreover  observable  that  when  peace  came, 
though  it  upset  the  Shelburne  ministry,  yet  that  of  the 
coalition  which  succeeded  it  was  most  unpopular,  and 
addresses  came  pouring  in  from  counties  and  towns  to 
thank  the  king  for  making  the  peace. 

Substantially  indeed — although  colonial  independence 
would  no  doubt  have  been  achieved  sooner  or  later — the 


230     The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

more  we  look  into  the  events  of  the  war  of  1775-83,  the 
The  war  in  more,  perhaps,  shall  we  be  convinced  that  it 
beuveenUeI  resolves  itself  into  a  duel  between  two  men 
Washington  who  never  saw  each  other  in  the  flesh,  Wash- 
iii.  '  ington  and  George  III. 

Take  Washington  out  of  the  history  on  the  American 
side,  and  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  American  success. 
American  ^  *s  barely  possible  that  under  Greene — the 
success  one  general  after  Washington's  own  heart,  who 

impossible  . 

without  wrote  to  him  from  his  command  in  the  south, 
Washington.  <  We  fight?  ^  beaten>  and  fight  again '—the 

army  itself  might  have  been  commanded  with  an  ability 
which  would  enable  it  to  withstand  its  British  opponents. 
But  neither  Greene  nor  any  other  general  possessed  that 
weight  of  personal  character  which  fixed  the  trust  of 
Congress  and  people  on  Washington,  maintained  him  in 
authority  through  all  reverses,  and  enabled  him  to  criticise 
with  such  unflinching  frankness  the  measures  of  Congress. 
Take,  on  the  other  hand,  George  III.  out  of  the 
history  on  the  British  side,  and  it  is  beyond  question  that 
George  in.  ^  tne  war  nad  ever  broken  out,  it  would  have 

En  ?§hre°f  keen  put  a  stop  to  *ong  before  *ts  ultimate 
sistance  to  failure.  In  him  alone  is  to  be  found  the  real 
indkpen^11  centre  of  resistance  to  American  independence, 
dence.  j^  js  nOw  well  known  that  at  least  from  the 

beginning  of  1778,  if  not  from  the  end  of  1775,  Lord  North 
was  anxious  to  resign,  and  desirous  of  conciliation,  and 
that  it  was  only  through  the  king's  constant  appeals  to 
his  sense  of  honour  not  to  '  desert '  him,  that  the  minister 
was  prevailed  upon  to  remain  in  office.  '  Till  I  see  things 
change  to  a  more  favourable  position,'  the  king  wrote  to 
Lord  North  as  late  as  May  19,  1780,  *  I  shall  not  feel  at 
liberty  to  grant  your  resignation  ; '  and  it  was  only  on 
March  20,  1781,  that  Lord  North  at  last  compelled  his 
master  to  accept  it.  Three  ideas  were  fixed  in  the  king's 


1778-9.  f*s  true  Character.  231 

mind,  the  first  of  which  was  a  delusion,  the  second  a  mis 
take,  and  the  third  contrary  to  all  principles  of  constitu 
tional  government,     ist.  He  had  persuaded  himself  that 
the  country  was  radically  opposed  to  American  independ 
ence.    In  January  1778,  he  opposes  conciliatory  measures, 
lest  they  should  '  dissatisfy  this  country,  which  so  cheer 
fully  and  handsomely  carries  on  the  contest.'     In  the 
autumn  of  the  year  he  is  certain  that  '  if  ministers  show 
that  they  never  will  consent  to  the  independence  of  Ame 
rica,  the  cry  will  be  strong  in  their  favour. '    Two  years 
later,  he  '  can  never  suppose  this  country  so  far  lost  to  all 
ideas  of  self-importance  as  to  be  willing  to  grant  Ame 
rican  independence.'     2nd.  He  was  convinced  (and  this 
conviction,  it  must  be  admitted,  was  shared  by  some  of 
the  strongest  opponents  of  the  war),  that  if  the  indepen 
dence  of  the   North  American   colonies  were  acknow 
ledged,  all  the  others,  as  well  as  Ireland,  would  be  lost. 
1  If  any  one  branch  of  the  empire  is  allowed  to  throw  off 
its  dependency,  the  others  will  inevitably  follow  the  ex 
ample.'     '  Should  America  succeed  ...  the  West  Indies 
must  follow,  not  in  independence,  but  dependence  on 
America.  Ireland  would  soon  follow,  and  this  island  reduce 
itself  to  a  poor  island  indeed.'     3rd.  He  would  not  allow 
the  Opposition  to  rule.    *  He  would  run  any  personal  risk 
rather  than  submit  to  the  Opposition  .  .  .  rather  than  be 
shackled  by  these  desperate  men  he  would  lose  his  crown.' 
If  he  authorises  the  attempt  at  a  coalition  (1779),  it  is  'pro 
vided  it  be  understood  that  every  means  are  to  be  em 
ployed  to  keep  the  empire  entire,  to  prosecute  the  present 
just  and  unprovoked  war  in   all   its  branches  with  the 
utmost  vigour,  and  that  his  Majesty's  past  measures  be 
treated  with  proper  respect,'  /.*.,  provided  the  Opposition 
are  ready  to  stultify  themselves,  and  do  all  that  the  king 
thinks  right,  and  admit  that  all  for  which  they  have  con 
tended  is  wrong.     Before  the  spectacle  of  such  narrow 


232      The  War  of  American  Independence.      A.D. 

obstinacy,  it  is  difficult  not  to  sympathise  with  an  expres 
sion  of  Fox  in  one  of  his  letters,  'It  is  intolerable  to 
think  that  it  should  be  in  the  power  of  one  blockhead  to 
do  so  much  mischief/ 

Between  these  two  men  —  it  may  be  conceded,  equally 
sincere,  equally  resolute—  but  the  one  reasoning,  like  the 
In  such  a  madman  that  he  was  to  be,  from  false  premises, 
hSonWmuhst  self-deluded  as  to  the  feelings  of  his  people, 
win.  anticipating  consequences  which  a  century  sees 

yet  unrealised,  and  the  other  with  eyes  at  all  times  almost 
morbidly  open  to  all  the  gloomier  features  of  his  cause, 
void  of  all  self-delusion,  —  the  one  conceiving  himself 
justified  in  imposing  the  dictates  of  his  own  self-will 
on  every  minister  whom  he  might  employ,  entitled  alike 
to  chain  an  unwilling  friend  to  office,  and  to  shut  the 
door  of  office  to  opponents  except  on  the  terms  of  sur 
rendering  all  their  principles  —  the  other  always  ready  to 
accept  the  inevitable,  to  make  the  most  use  of  the  least 
means,  to  curb  himself  for  the  sake  of  his  cause  in  all 
things,  except  fearless  plainspeaking  —  the  one,  finally, 
resolved  only  to  hinder  the  making  a  nation,  the  other 
resolved  to  make  one,  if  anyhow  possible  —  the  issue  of 
the  contest  could  not  be  doubtful,  if  both  lives  were  pro 
longed.  From  that  contest  the  one  emerged  as  the  mad 
king  who  threw  away  half  a  continent  from  England  ; 
the  other  as  the  father  of  the  American  nation. 

The  common  consent  of  mankind  has  ranked  Wash 
ington  among  its  great  men  ;  and  although  the  title  may 
Character  of  have  been  fully  justified  by  the  course  of  his 


tn'  irr?at-  civil  life>  wnether  in  or  out  of  o^ce,  after  the 
ness.  termination  of  the  War  of  Independence,  it  is 

hardly  to  be  doubted  that  it  would  freely  have  been  accorded 
to  him  had  his  career  been  cut  short  immediately  after  the 
resignation  of  his  military  command.  Yet  of  those  who 
have  enjoyed  the  title,  few,  if  any,  have  ever  earned  it  by 


1778-9.  Its  true  Character.  233 

actions  of  less  brilliancy.  The  fame  of  no  conspicuous 
victory  is  bound  up  with  Washington's  name.  His  one 
dashing  exploit  was  the  surprise  of  Trenton  ;  his  one 
victory,  that  of  Monmouth,  had  no  results ;  his  most  con 
siderable  battle,  that  of  Brandywine,  was  a  severe  defeat. 
His  greatness  as  a  general  consisted  in  doing  much  with 
little  means,  never  missing  an  opportunity,  rising  superior 
to  every  disaster.  When  he  had  recovered  Boston  he 
could  say,  '  I  have  been  here  months  together  with  .  .  . 
not  thirty  rounds  of  musket  cartridges  to  a  man,  and 
have  been  obliged  to  submit  to  all  the  insults  of  the 
enemy's  cannon  for  want  of  powder,  keeping  what  little 
we  had  for  pistol  distance  .  .  .  We  have  maintained  our 
ground  against  the  enemy  under  this  want  of  powder, 
and  we  have  disbanded  one  army  and  recruited  another, 
within  musket  shot  of  two-and- twenty  regiments,  the 
flower  of  the  British  army,  whilst  our  force  has  been  but 
little  if  any  superior  to  theirs,  and  at  last  have  beaten 
them  into  a  shameful  and  precipitate  retreat  out  of  a 
place  the  strongest  by  nature  on  this  continent,  and 
strengthened  and  fortified  at  an  enormous  expense/ 

The  character  of  Washington  as  a  commander  re 
calls  in  various  respects  that  of  Wellington.  In  both 
we  see  the  same  dogged  perseverance  under  Washington 
all  the  various  phases  of  fortune ;  the  same  JjfJon?1* 
strict  discipline,  hardening  readily  into  stern-  pared. 
ness,  coupled  with  the  same  careful  consideration  foi 
the  wants  and  welfare  of  the  soldier ;  the  same  patient, 
constant  attention  to  every  detail  of  military  organ, sa- 
tion ;  the  same  ability  in  maintaining  a  defensive  warfare 
against  an  enemy  superior  in  force,  with  the  same  quick 
ness  to  strike  a  blow  in  any  unguarded  quarter  ;  the 
same  unflinching  frankness  in  exposing  the  evils  of 
the  military  administration  of  the  day.  Many  of  Wel 
lington's  despatches  from  the  Peninsula  might  almost 


234     The  War  of  American  Independence. 

have  been  written  by  Washington.  The  difference  be 
tween  them,  while  the  war  lasts,  is  mainly  this,  that  in 
Wellington  the  soldier  is  all,  whilst  in  Washington  the 
statesman  and  the  patriot  are  never  merged  in  the  soldier. 
Hence,  whilst  in  after-life  Wellington  had  to  serve  his 
apprenticeship  as  a  statesman  after  ceasing  to  be  a 
soldier,  and  often  bungled  over  his  new  craft,  Washing 
ton's  after-life  was  simply  that  of  a  statesman  who  had 
been  called  to  take  up  arms  and  had  laid  them  down 
again.  In  their  supreme  quality  of  simple  steadfastness 
to  duty,  both  finally  met. 

In  short,  though  England  had  never  a  more  successful 
foe  than  Washington,  it  is  impossible  not  to 

Washington     -     ,     .  i    •         i  •        i  -i 

a  thorough  feel,  in  studying  his  character,  that  no  more 
Englishman.  typicai  Englishman  ever  lived;  that  he  belongs 
to  us  as  essentially  as  our  Shakespeare  and  our  Milton. 

V 


\ 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

1783. 

State  of  the    LET  us  now  cast  a  final  glance  at  the  state  of 
worid-  the  world  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Except  that  an  independent  state  had  grown  up  for 
the  first  time  since  the  downfall  of  the  Aztec  and  Inca 
The  balance  empires  on  tne  American  continent,  and  that 
of  power  but  England  had  been  politically  lessened,  the 
affected  by  balance  of  power  had  been  little  affected  by 
the  war.  the  war  France  had  one  West  Indian  island 
more,  Holland  one  Indian  settlement  less.  Spain  had 
recovered  Minorca  and  the  Floridas.  But  she  was  irre 
vocably  shut  out  from  one  great  object  of  her  ambition, 
the  eastern  half  of  the  Mississippi  basin. 


State  of  the  World  in  1783.  235 

It  might  almost  be  said  that  Europe  rfed  stood  still 
to  watch  the  past  struggle.  Among  the  sovereigns, 
the  only  changes  had  been  the  death  of  the  New  politj. 
Empress  Maria  Theresa  in  1780,  leaving  her  cal  events 
son  Joseph  II.  still  on  the  throne,  and  that  outside  of 
of  Joseph  I.  of  Portugal,  succeeded  by  his  thewar- 
daughter  Maria  I.  There  had  been,  in  the  early  years 
of  the  war,  some  colonial  warfare  between  Spain  and 
Portugal  (1776-7),  and  a  little  later  some  quarrelling  in 
Germany  between  Austria  and  Prussia  (1777-9),  about 
the  succession  to  the  electorate  of  Bavaria,  terminated 
by  the  mediation  of  Russia  in  favour  of  the  Prussian 
candidate,  Austria  receiving  some  small  sop  in  the  way 
of  territory.  The  Pope  (Pius  VI.)  had  astonished  the 
world  by  a  visit  to  Vienna  (1782),  whilst  in  Geneva, 
where  measures  taken  against  Rousseau  and  his  works 
had  led  to  quarrels  between  the  popular  party  and  the 
dominant  aristocracy,  there  had  been  a  joint  intervention 
of  French,  Piedmontese,  and  Bernese  in  favour  of  the  latter 
(1782).  Russia  was  engaged  in  seizing  the  Crimea  (1783). 
In  the  Netherlands,  the  republican  party,  encouraged  by 
the  success  of  the  Americans,  was  agitating  to  curtail  the 
authority  of  the  Stadtholder. 

But  there  had  been  events  which  had  occupied  men's 
minds  far  more  than  the  quarrels  of  princes.      Other  events. 

At  the  age  of  eighty-six,  Voltaire  had  been  seized  with 
the  wish  to  see  Paris  again.  In  February  1778,  after 
many  years'  absence,  he  made  his  appearance,  Voltaire's  re- 
and  nothing  else  was  thought  of  but  Voltaire.  ^^^ 
Crowds  stood  on  the  quay  all  the  day  outside  1778) 
his  door.  The  quasi-regal  cry  of  '  Long  live  Voltaire  ! ' 
which  greeted  him  wherever  he  went,  was  often  mixed 
with  a  more  ominous  one, '  Down  with  kings  !  Long  live 
philosophers  ! '  Franklin  brought  him  his  grandson  to 
bless,  and  the  great  mocker  of  the  age  pronounced  over 


236     The  War  of  American  Independence. 

the  child's  head  the  two  great  words  of  heavenly  and 
earthly  faith,  '  God  and  freedom.'  His  greatest  triumph 
was,  however,  at  the  theatre  (March  30),  where  one  of  his 
latest  pieces, '  Irene/  was  represented.  He  was  crowned 
with  laurel,  almost  carried  in  ladies'  arms  to  his  coach, 
which  was  drawn  by  men  to  his  door,  amidst  such  showers 
of  bouquets  that  he  exclaimed,  '  My  children,  do  you  wish 
to  smother  me  under  roses  ? ' 

Two   months   later  he  was   dead,   and   the   Roman 

Catholic  parochial  clergy  were  refusing  to  bury  him,  so 

that  a  priest,  his  nephew,  had  to  carry  the 

Voltaire's  JT  i_      i_      •    j   • 

death,  May  body  oft  secretly  to  be  buried  in  a  monastery 
30, 1778.  to  whjch  he  belonged,  and  the  prior  of  which 
was  in  turn  deprived  of  his  office  for  allowing  the  cere 
mony  to  be  performed.  So  fearfully  wide  was  the  gap 
between  the  Church  and  popular  feeling. 

In  the  same  month  Rousseau,  whose  failing  sight  no 
longer  enabled  him  to  copy  music  for  a  liveli- 

Rousseau  s  ,  ..  it*  ^,- 

death,  July  hood,  accepted  from  the  Marquis  de  Girardm 
*>  1778.  the  Offer  Of  a  cottage  at  Ermenonville  near 
Paris.  A  few  weeks  later  he,  too,  was  dead,  hoping  that 
'  the  Almighty  would  receive  him  into  His  heaven.' 

Financially  France  was  rushing  on  to  ruin.  After  five 
years  of  seeming  financial  success,  Necker  had  left  office 
in  1781,  as  has  been  said  before,  leaving  behind  him  a 
famous  report,  known  as  the  '  Compte  Rendu,'  the  first 
balance-sheet  of  French  finance  ever  yet  published, 
but  already  out  of  date,  as  it  applied  to  the 

Financial  .         _   _  n       ••.*      i        •,      i  *  •          , , 

ruin  of  month  of  January  1778.  Necker  had  himself 
increased  the  French  debt  by  over  2i,ooo,ooo/. ; 
his  successor  added  I2,ooo,ooo/.  more.  In  1783  the 
finances  were  being  handed  over  to  the  utterly  reckless 
Calonne,  who  in  three  years  would  add  32,ooo,ooo/., 
and  whose  entire  breakdown  would  bring  on  successively 
an  Assembly  of  Notables,  the  States  General,  and  the 
Revolution. 


State  of  the  World  in  1783.  237 

Meanwhile  the  heroes  of  the  day  in  France  were  the 
young  officers  who  had  served  in  the  American  war  ;  fore 
most  of  all,  La  Fayette,  Washington's  friend, 


heroes 
But  there  are  already,  practising  at  the  bar  of  °f  *he  day  in 

;  '  J  P  _,      .      France,  and 

country  towns,  or  obscurely  at  that  of  Pans  those  of  the 
itself,  —  or  again  in  attorneys'  offices,  men  who  future- 
in  a  few  years  more  will  come  before  Europe  as  the  leaders 
of  a  French  Revolution  ;  and  behind  them  sons  of  inn 
keepers,  plasterers,  labourers,  lackeys,  and  others  —  a  few 
of  them  now  simple  soldiers  or  non-commissioned  officers 
—  who  will  rise  to  military  fame,  become,  many  of  them, 
the  members  of  a  new  nobility,  and  in  one  or  two  instances 
ascend  a  throne  ;  whilst  a  single  Corsican  family  will 
give  to  Europe  an  emperor,  three  kings,  and  a  queen. 

The  hour  of  Germany's  political  wakening  is  yet  far 
off.     But  her  literature  is  rising  fast  to  meri-  Germany  ; 
dian  splendour,  and  her  poets  and  philosophers 
have  mostly  been  enthusiastic  in  the  American  rica. 
cause. 

In  England  there  is  little  to  be  noticed  since  the 
opening  of  the  war,  beyond  what  has  been  already  re 
ferred   to.     Dr.   Johnson  has    published    his 
last  work  (1781),  and  will  have  this  year  that  theSiUerary 
paralytic  stroke  which  will  be  the  forerunner  of  world- 
his  death  in  the  next.   A  new  poet,  Crabbe,  patronised  by 
Burke,  has  published  his  first  work,  the  '  Library'  (1781), 
but  its  success  was  far  surpassed  by  that  of  another  poem 
now  scarcely  known  except  by  name,  Darwin's  '  Botanic 
Garden.'     Robert    Burns    has    been    locally   known   in 
Ayrshire  for  a  rhymester,  but  has  published  nothing  as 
yet  ;  Walter  Scott  will  go  next  year  to  college. 

In  the  political  sphere  the  Prince  of  Wales  has  just 
come  of  age,  and  will  soon  be  the  patron  of  The 
the   political  opposition.     Before  the  year  is  uorld 
out  (December  19)  Pitt,  twenty  -four  years  of  age,  will  be 


238     The  War  of  American  Independence. 

chancellor  of  the  exchequer  and  premier,  and  in  him 
will  be  typified  the  spirit  of  resistance  to  that  coming 
Revolution  which  is  now  casting  its  shadow  before  it 
on  the  Continent. 

America  finally,  after   seeing  her  independence  re 
cognised  this   year  by  Sweden,  Denmark,  Spain,  and 
Russia,  all  of  which  will  conclude  treaties  with  her  (as 
well  as  Prussia  two  years  hence),  will  flounder  for  four 
years  more  in  the  slough  of  despond  of  her 
Confederation,  through  repeated  mutinies  and 
a  New  England  insurrection,  until  she  reaches  firm  ground 
at  last  in  her  Constitution  (September  17,  1787),  under 
which  Washington  will  become  the  first  President,  no 
more  of  Congress,  but  of  the  United  States. 


INDEX 


ABENAKIS,  13,  55 
Acadians,  their  expulsion   from 
Nova  Scotia,  62 

Adams,  John,  106, 120, 130  ;  appointed 
peace  commissioner  for  France, 
165 

Adams,  Samuel,  69,  80,  81,  84,  104, 
106 

Africa,  slave  trade  in,  57 ;  colonial 
power  of,  90 

Algonquin  language,  6 

Allen,  Ethan,  takes  Ticonderoga,  105 

America,  races  inhabiting  colonies 
in,  2  ;  commencement  of  the  War  of 
Independence,  103  ;  reception  of  the 
proclamation  against  rebellion  in, 
114  ;  secretly  aided  by  France  and 
Spain,  118  ;  disasters  in  Canada,  120; 
miserable  state  of  the  army,  121, 
147  ;  enthusiastic  reception  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  126  ; 
the  need  of  union  still  scarcely 
felt  in,  127  ;  postponement  of  the 
plan  of  federation,  127;  discourage 
ment  of  the  troops,  129  ;  Congress 
raises  a  new  army,  131  ;  result  of 
the  campaign  of  1776,  132;  Congress 
adopts  the  scheme  of  confederation, 
146  ;  treaty  with  France,  149  ;  re 
joicings  over  the  French  treaty  in, 
153  ;  reception  of  the  Conciliatory 
Bills,  154  ;  neglected  state  of  the 
army,  172  ;  supmeness  of,  173  ;  sub 
serviency  to  France,  194  ;  rejoicings 
at  the  surrender  of  Yorktown  in,  198, 
her  weakness,  194-202  ;  preliminary 
articles  of  peace  with  England,  204  ; 
discontent  of  the  army,  207  ;  cessa 
tion  of  hostilities,  208  ;  cost  of  the 
war,  210  ;  incapacity  of  politicians 
in,  220  ;  want  of  patriotism  in,  221 ; 


BER 

importance  of  its  foreign  aid,  2*6 ; 
success  of  the  war  due  to  Washing 
ton,  230 

America,  North,  discovery  of,  23 ;  per 
manent  settlement  of  Englishmen  in, 
23 

Andre,  Major,  his  trial  and  conviction 
as  a  spy,  184-5 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  as  governor  of 
New  England,  41,  54 

Arkwright,  101 

Arnold,  Benedict,  attempts  to  storm 
Quebec,  115  ;  disastrous  results  of 
his  expedition  to  Canada,  120 ;  de 
feats  the  British  at  Still  water,  145  ; 
is  found  guilty  of  treason,  183-5  ;  in 
Virginia,  190-1  ;  in  Connecticut, 
196 

Asiento,  the,  56 

Austria,  in  1775,  92 ;  proposes  a  peace 
congress  at  Vienna,  187,  and  see  235 


OACON'S  Rebellion,  30 

*J  Bacon,  Nathaniel,  hostilities  of, 
30 

Baltimore,  Lord,  promoter  of  colonisa 
tion,  32  ;  as  governor  of  Maryland, 
33 ;     his    disputes     regarding    the 
Government,  34 
j  Bancroft  on  the  Indians,  4  ;  159 

Barre",  83,  88,  112,  133,  145,  201 

Baum,  Colonel,  his  defeat  at  Benning- 
ton,  140 

Beaumarchais,  119 

Bellamont,  Lord,  governor  of  New 
York,  41 

Bennington,  battle  of,  140 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  governor  of 
Virginia,  29-31  ;  as  governor  of  Nev 
Jersey,  41 


240 


Index. 


BLA 

Black  man,  the,  55  ;  effect  of  the  war 
on,  212  ;  bad  treatment  by  the  Eng 
lish,  214 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  103 

Boston,  riots  at,  71  ;  troops  sent  to,  78; 
convention  at,  78  ;  massacre  at,  79  ; 
destruction  of  tea  at,  81  ;  Port  Act, 
82 ;  invested  by  colonists,  105  ; 
evacuated  by  the  British  troops,  117 

Boswell,  101,  102 

Braddock,  General,  his  defeat  by  the 
French,  61 

Bradford,  Governor,  47 

Brandy  wine,  battle  of,  141 

Breton,  Cape,  colonised  by  the  French, 
20 

Brindley,  102 

Bunker's  Hill,  battle  of,  107-8 

Burgoyne,  General,  commander  of  an 
expedition  from  Canada,  140  ;  is  de 
feated  at  Stillwater,  142  ;  and  sur 
renders  at  Saratoga,  143 

Burke,  83,  88,  in,  112,  113,  144,  145, 
158  ;  his  plan  of  Economic  Reform, 
178 ;  198  ;  takes  office,  201,  203 

Burns,  Robert,  237 

Bute.  Lord,  71 

/~\A.BOT,  John,  his  discoveries,  22 

^  Cabot,  Sebastian,his  discoveries,  23 

Calonne,  236 

Calvert,  Sir  George,  see  Baltimore, 
Lord 

Camden,  battle  of,  180 

Campaign  of  1776,  its  results,  132 

Canada,  population  of  French  in,  21  ; 
conquest  of,  by  the  English,  63  ;  in 
vasion  of,  114  ;  American  disasters 
in,  1 20 ;  British  expedition  from, 
139,  140 

Canonicus,  46,  48 

Carleton,  Sir  Guy,  in,  132  ;  appointed 
commander-in-chief  of  the  English 
Army,  201  ;  is  ordered  to  evacuate 
New  York.  208  ;  his  conduct  regard 
ing  the  slave  question,  209 

Carlisle,  Lord,  154-5 

Carolina,  South,  invasion  of,  161 

Carolinas,  attempt  at  colonisation  of, 
by  the  Spanish,  15  ;  early  charters  of, 
34  ;  peculiar  characteristic  of  their 
foundation,  35  ;  colonists  break  up 
Indian  civilisation  in  Florida,  36 ; 
slavery  in,  36  ;  become  colonies,  37  ; 
dissolution  of  colonial  government 
in,  IIQ 


Carteret,  Sir  George,  governor  of  Ne* 

Jersey  41 

Cartier,  Jacques,  his  discoveries,  17 
Charles  I.,  28,  50,  51,  56 
Charleston,  taken  by  the  British,  171 
Charlestown,  burning  of,  108 
Chatham,  Earl  of,  see  Pitt,  William 
Cherokees,  13  ;  defeat  of,  167 
Choiseul,     Due     de,     French    prime 

minister,  76,  99 
Clark,   George    Rogers,    invades   the 

north-western  territory,  167 
Clayborne,  33  ;  leader  of  the  republican 

party,  34 

Clinton,  Sir  H.,  defeats  the  Americans 
at  Long  Island,  128  ;  recovers  Rhode 
Island,  132  ;  successes  of,  142  ;  eva 
cuates  Philadelphia,  156 ;  at  New 
York,  160,  163 ;  takes  Charleston, 
171 

Coligny,  Admiral,  15,  26 
Colonial  powers,  the,  in  1775,  90-1 
Colonies  of  America,  i  ;  races  inhabit 
ing  them,  2  ;  Northern  and  Southern 
English  groups,  23,  24 ;  distinction 
between  these  groups,  25  ;  the  united 
colonies  of  New  England,  50 ;  his 
tory  of  from  1748-1764,  58-64  ;  loy 
alty  and  disaffection  in,  64  ;  suffer 
ings  under  the  Navigation  Laws  in, 
65  ;  coming  causes  pre-figured,  66; 
other  causes  of  discontent  in,  67  ; 
trade  discouraged  in,  67  ;  mutual 
complaints  between  the  mother- 
country  and  the  colonies,  68 ;  at 
tempt  of  English  Government  to 
raise  a  revenue  from,  68  ;  pro 
test  against  the  Revenue  Act,  69  ; 
rejoicings  at  the  Repeal  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  74 ;  refusal  to  comply 
with  the  requirements  of  the  Quar 
terly  Act,  75  ;  renewed  agitation  ii., 
76  ;  troops  sent  to,  78  ;  spread  of  non 
importation  agreements,  79 ;  repres 
sive  measures  by  the  English  Par 
liament  against,  82  ;  raising  of  troops 
in,  86  ;  extension  of  the  prohibition 
of  trade,  88  ;  defence  of,  89  ;  colonial 
powers  in  1775,  90  ;  reception  of  the 
proclamation  against  rebellion,  114: 
dissolution  of  governments,  119 
Committees  of  correspondence,  80 
Commonwealth,  the,  submission  of  the 

colonies  to,  29 

Conciliatory  Bills,   150  ;    their   recep 
tion,  154 
Concord,  Imtle  of,  104 


Index. 


241 


Confederation,  its  first  introduction  in 
Congress,  127  ;  its  adoption  by  Con 
gress,  146 ;  signed  by  several  states  in 
1778,  157  ;  finally  signed  in  1781, 189 

Congress,  in  New  York,  71;  continen- 
talcongress  in  Philadelphia,  84,  106  ; 
attempts  at  conciliation  by,  in  ; 
second  petition  of,  in  ;  important 
resolutions  of,  118  ;  raises  a  new 
army,  131  ;  adopts  the  scheme  of 
confederation,  146 ;  impotency  of, 
147  ;  reinforces  the  army,  153  ;  re 
ception  of  the  Conciliatory  Bills  by, 
154;  increased  impotency  of,  159  ; 
solicits  French  protection,  160 ;  ap 
points  peace  commissioners,  165  ; 
threatened  by  mutineers,  208 

Connecticut  colony,  49,  53 

Continental  congress,  first,  84  ;  second, 
106 

Convention  at  Boston,  78 

Conway,  as  inspector  of  the  army,  148, 
153 

Conway,  General,  200-1 

Corn  riots,  French,  of  1775,  96 

Cornwallis,  Lord,  132  ;  his  defeat  at 
Princeton,  136  ;  in  Charleston,  171  ; 
his  victory  at  Camden  against  Gates, 
1801  ;  his  march  into  North  Caro 
lina  checked,  182  ;  advances  into 
North^Carolina,  191  ;  defeats  Greene 
at  Guilford  Court  House,  192  ;  re 
treats  to  Wilmington,  192  ;  in  Vir 
ginia,  194  ;  withdraws  to  Yorktown, 
194  ;  his  surrender  at  Yorktown, 
197 

Council  of  Plymouth,  43 

Cowpens,  the,  battle  of,  190 

Cowper,  101 

Crabbe,  237 

Creeks,  13 

Cromwell,  29,  51 

Crown  Point,  surrender  of,  106 

Culpeper,  Lord,  governor  of  Virginia, 
30 


r)EANE,  Silas,  118,  133,  138 
'"^"Declaration  of  Independence,  pro 
position  of,  1 19  ;  its  adoption  by  Con 
gress  in  1776,  122  ;  its  unfairness, 
124  ;  looked  upon  as  a  declaration  of 
war,  12$ ;  its  influence  on  foreign 
countries,  126  ;  its  enthusiastic  re 
ception  in  America,  126  ;  its  recep 
tion  in  England,  133  *  . 

M.  H. 


f  KA 

Declaratory  Act,  74 

De  Kalb,  76,  138,  180 

Delaware  colony,  43 

Denmark    in    1775?     93 ;    recognises 

United  States,  238 
Dickinson,  John,  127 
Dumouriez,  99 
Dunmore,  Lord,  governor  of  Virginia, 

no,  116 

Dunning,  his  resolutions,  178 
Dutch  colonies  in  America,  39,  41 

-pCONOMIC  Reform,  178 

*-"     Eliot,  John,  52 

Endicott,  John,  48 

England,  colonies  of,  in  America,  23, 
24  ;  its  monopoly  of  the  Asiento,  56  : 
its  support  of  slavery,  57  ;  defeats 
the  French,  62  ;  conquest  of  Canada, 
by  the  English,  63  ;  complaints  of 
the  colonists  against,  67  ;  effect  of 
the  complaints  on,  68  ;  social  con 
dition  of,  before  the  war,  100-103  ; 
at  war  with  Spain,  167  ;  events  in 
1780,  176 ;  the  war  everywhere  dis 
astrous  to,  199  ;  preliminary  articles 
of  peace  with  America,  204  ;  what 
she  gained  by  the  war,  211  ;  success 
in  the  war  seemingly  impossible, 
215  ;  its  reliance  on  the  loyalists, 
217  ;  reasons  for  its  failure,  223  ; 
early  popularity  of  the  war  the  re 
sult  of  ignorance,  227  ;  political  and 
literary  world  after  the  war,  237 

Estaing,  Admiral  Count  d',  157,  159; 
repulsed  before  Savannah,  170 

Europe  in  1775,  91  ;  war  in,  in  1781, 
185  ;  political  events  outside  the  w.~.r. 
235 

Eutaw  Springs,  battle  of,  195 


Nations,  the,  6,   13;  and   see 
Iroquois 

Flag,  t!:e  American,  unfurled,  116 
Flaxman,  102 
Florida,  discovery  of,  14  ;   settlement 

of,  15  ;  Indian  civilisation  destroyed 

in,  36-7  ;  and  see  38,  204 
Fox,   100  ;    opposed  to  the  American 

war,  113,  133,   145,    169,   194,    198  ; 

secretary  of  state,  201  ;  resigns,  203 ; 

his  coalition  with  Lord  North,  206- 

207 
France,  colonial  power  of,  90  ;  in  177";, 

91  ;    the    only    power    with    Spain 


242 


Index, 


directly  interested  in  the  American 
struggle,  93  ;  the  intellectual  centre 
of  Europe,  94  ;  the  new  reign  a 
hopeful  one,  96  ;  grounds  for  its 
sympathy  with  America,  97  ;  its 
admiration  for  England,  97  ;  in 
fluence  of  the  partition  of  Poland  on, 
99;  secretly  aids  America,  118  ; 
ready  to  treat  with  America,  147  ; 
treaty  with  America,  149  ;  state  of 
affairs  in  1778,  149  ;  war  declared 
against  England,  153  ;  its  successes 
against  the  English,  158,  186  ;  war 
convention  with  Spain,  166  ;  anxious 
for  peace,  187  ;  return  of  the  troops 
to  Europe,  ao6 ;  financial  ruin  of, 
236  ;  its  heroes  of  the  future,  237 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  connection 
with  '  King  George's  war,'  58  ;  author 
of  the  first  military  organisation  in 
the  colonies,  59  ;  proposes  a  con 
gress,  60  ;  agent  of  four  colonies  in 
England,8i-2 ;  confers  with  Washing 
ton,  no  ;  with  British  commis 
sioners,  130 ;  in  Paris,  133,  146,  160, 
202,  204-5,  235 

Free  trade  in  America,  118 

French  in  America,  their  colonies,  16  ; 
early  discoveries  and  settlements  of, 

17  ;  missionaries  and  adventurers  of, 

18  ;   their  progress  in  the  Mississippi 
valley,  19  ;  extension  of  colonisation 
in  New  York,  20  ;  population  of  her 
colonies,  21  ;  defeat  of,  at  Pittsburg, 
62  ;  successes  in  war,  62 

French  and  Indian  war,  59 
Frobisher,  Martin  Allen,  his  attempt 

to  found   a   settlement  in   Hudson 

Straits,  23 

f~*  AGE,    General,    as     governor    of 

^  Massachusetts,  86,  89  ;  defeated 
at  Lexington,  104-  5  ;  proclaims  mar 
tial  law,  106  ;  recalled,  in 

Gainsborough,  101 

'  Gaspee,'  burning  of  the,  80 

Gates,  Horatio,  General,  defeats  Bur- 
goyne,  141-144  ;  is  defeated  at  Cam- 
den,  1 80 

Geneva,  93,  235 

George  III.,  his  character,  100;  his 
speech  at  the  opening  of  Parliament 
in  1782,  205  ;  the  centre  of  English 
resistance  to  American  Independ 
ence,  230 

Borgia,  the  last  founded  colony,  37  ; 


ROW 

its  prosperity,   38 ;    hostilities   wiiii 

Spain,  38 ;  the  war  in,   161  ;  lost  to 

the  British,  204 
Germain,  Lord  George,  113,  189,   198- 

9;    his  unpopula-ity,   200:    and   set. 

214 
Germany,  in  1775,  91  ;  application  foi 

troops   from,   in  ;    vote   for  troopi 

from,      113  ;      its     sympathy     witl 

America,  237 
Gibbon,  101 

Gibraltar,  siege  of,  168,  185 
Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  his  attempts  at 

colonisation  in  Virginia,  26 
Gloucester,    its    surrender    by    Corn 

wallis  to  the  Americans,  198 
Goldoni,  94 
Gordon,  Lord  George,  178;  riots  caused 

by,  179 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinand,  48 
Gourgues,  Dominic  de,  15,  26 
Government   of  the    North  American 

Indian,  6 
Grasse,    Admiral    Count    de,    196-8  ; 

defeated   by   Rodney   in    the    West 

Indies,  203 

Great  Britain,  cost  of  the  war  to,  211 
Greene,  129,  130,  138,  157  ;   appointed 

commander  of  the  forces  south  of  the 

Delaware,  182  ;  defeats  the  English 

at  the  Cowpens,  190  ;  in  the  south, 

190  ;  retreats  to  the   Dan  river,  191  ; 

recovers  the  greater   part  of  South 

Carolina,  192  ;  is  defeated  by  Corn- 

wallis  atGuilford  Court  House,  192  ; 

whom  he  defeats  at  Eutaw  Springs, 

*95 
Grenville,  George,  attempts  to  raise  n 

revenue  from  the  American  colonies, 

68 
Guilford  Court  House,  battle  of,  191 

TLTAARLEM  Heights,  131 

•^         Hancock,  104,  106 

Hargreaves,  101 

Henry,  Patrick,  his  resolutions,  70;  al 
the  continental  congress,  84,  107 

Hillsborough,  Lord,  his  policy,  78 

Holland,  colonial  power  of,  90  ;  Eng 
land's  quarrel  with,  175 ;  war  de 
clared  with,  185  ;  peace  with,  207 

House  of  Burgesses,  Virginia,  27  ;  dis 
solution  of,  119 

Howe,  General,  at  Bunker's  Hill,  108  ; 
evacuates  Boston,  117  ,  his  arrival 
at  Sandy  Hook,  122  ;  lands  at  States 


Index. 


243 


hSand.  127  ,  occupies  New  York, 
130  ;  his  advance,  131  ;  captures 
Fort  Washington,  131  ;  loses  most 
of  New  Jersey,  136  ;  defeats  Wash 
ington  at  Brandywine,  141  ;  inac 
tivity  of  his  army  in  Philadelphia, 
148  ;  resigns,  155 

Howe,  Lord,  his  arrival  at  Sandy 
Hook,  122  ;  threatens  New  York, 
127  ;  his  fruitless  attempts  to  secure 
peace,  130 ;  a  peace  commissioner, 
155;  his  engagement  v/ith  D'Estaing, 
157  ;  revictuals  Gibraltar,  204 

Hudson,  Henry,  his  discoveries,  39 

Huguenots,  15,  36 

Hume,  zoo 

Hunt,  46 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.,  48-9 

Hutton,  James,  146 

Hyder  AH,  159,  185,  187 


[BERVILLE,  d',  19 

L  Independence,  American  War  of, 
why  an  epoch  in  history,  i  ;  first 
period,  103  ,  second  period,  149;  its 
results,  211  ;  paradoxes  of,  and  its 
true  character,  215  ;  early  popularity 
of,  227  ;  the  war  in  fact  a  duel  be 
tween  George  III.  and  Washington, 
230  ;  state  of  the  world  after  the  war, 
234 

Independence,  Declaration  of,  122  ; 
proposition  of,  119;  its  unfairness, 
124  ;  its  enthusiastic  reception  in 
America,  126 ;  as  a  declaration  of 
war,  126  ;  its  influence  on  foreign 
countries,  126  ;  its  reception  in  Eng-  , 
land,  133 

Indian  massacres,  158 

Indian  wars,  28,  37,  52,  185 

Indians,  see  Red  man  ;  employment 
of,  in  the  war,  124-5  •  massacres  by, 
158 

Ingersoll,  71 

Ireland,  state  of,  in  1780,  177 

Iroquois,  4,  13,  54  ;  massacres  by, 
158  ;  devastation  of  their  country 
by  Sullivan,  164 

Italy  in  1775,  93 


|  ACKSON,  Andrew,  180 
J      Jacobite  party  extinct,  99 

{amestown,  27 
ay,  appointed  peace  commissioner  f>r 
Spam,  165  ;  in  Paris,  204 


MAS 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  106  ;  draws  up  the 

Declaration  of  Indepecdence,   122; 

167,  213 

Johnson,  Dr.,  ico,  101,  237 
Johnstone,    Governor,    154  ;  attempt* 

bribery  with  Joseph  Reed,  158 
John  the  Painter  attempts  to  fire  Poit* 

mouth  dockyard,  133 
Jones,  Paul,  159  ;    his  sea-fight,  169  , 

J75 

Joseph  II.,  92-3,  235 
Junius,  100,  103 


T  r  ENTUCKY,  167,  212 
*^     Keppel,  Admiral,  158,  165 
King  George's  war,  55,  58 
Kosciuszko  joins  the  American  army, 
1 3V,  142 


T   A  FAYETTE,  joins  the  American 
•^    army,  138  ;    148,    156,   157,    162, 

192,  195,  196,  197,  237 
La  Perouse,  203 
La  Salle,  Cavalier  de,  his  adventures, 

,8 

Laurens,  160,  187,  202,  209 
Lee,  General,  capture  of,  134  ;  quarreh 

with  Washington,  156 
Lee,  Richard  Henry,  120,  137 
Leisler,  Jacob,  governor  of  N  CM-  York, 

41,66 

Lexington,  battle  of,  104 
Lincoln,    General,  defeated    at    Briai 

Arch,  161  ;  surrender  of  Charleston 

by,  171 

Locke's  '  grand  model '  of  Carolina,  33 
'London  Company,'  23,  28-9,  46 
London  No-Popery  riots,  179 
Long  Island,  battle  of,  128-9 
Loudoun,  Lord,  75 


MACPHERSON,  101 
Malesherbes,  96 

Manhattan,  39 

Marion,  181,  192-3 

Maryland,  formation  of,  32  ;  r.arlv 
prosperity,  33  ;  accedes  last  to  the 
confederation,  189 

Mason,  John,  48 

Massachusetts  colony,  its  growth,  48 
during  the  commonwealth,  51  ;  its 
struggles  against  the    Restoration, 
53  ;  warfare  with  the  French,  54  ;  its 
population  in  1763,  64  ;  disapproval 


244 


Index. 


MAS 

of  the  Navigation  Laws,  65  ;  meet  •  ) 
ing  of  the  House  of  Assembly  of,  | 
77  ;  legislation  against,  82 ;  pro-  j 
vincial  congress,  and  raising  of  j 
troops  in,  86  ;  prepares  for  war,  89  ;  | 
repeal  of  the  Act  for  regulating  the  | 
Government,  150 

Massasoit,  46-7 

Mather,  Cotton,  48 

Miantonomo,  48,  50 

Mifflin,  General,  president  of  the  Con-  ' 
gress,  210 

Miller,  Joaquin,  on  the  Indians,  5,  9      j 

Minorca  surrendered  to  the   French,  j 

200 

Minuits,  Peter,  as  Governor  of  Man-  j 
hattan,  39 

Mobilian  language,  6 

Mohegans,  49,  50 

Monmouth,  battle  of,  156 

Montcalm,  General,  63  ;  his  prediction,  I 
64 

Montesquieu,  97 

Montgomery,  Brigadier-General,  inva-  , 
sion  of  Canada  by,   114  ;    his  diffi 
culties,  115 

Morris,  Robert,  188,  202 

Moultrie,Fort,  British  attack  on,  120 


J\JARRAGAN SETTS,   46,    48,   49,  j 

Natchez,  the,  6,  7;  desti  action  of,  20    , 

Navigation    Act,    Cromwell's,    51-2  ;  I 

Charles  1 1.  's,  disapproval  of  and  suf-  j 

(brings  in  the  colonies  under,  30-1,  : 

65-7' 

Necker,  149,  187,  236 

Nelson  in  Central  America,  175 

Netherlands  in    1775,  93  ;    England's  ! 
quarrel  with  the,  175 

Neutrality,  the  armed,  176 

New  Amsterdam,  40 

New  Brunswick,  conquest  of,  62 

New  England,  early  attempts  at  settle 
ment  in,  43  ;  united  colonies  of,  50  ; 
King  Philip's  war  in,  52  ;  struggles  5 
against  the  Navigation  Laws,   65  ;  i 
freedom  of,  117 

New  Hampshire,  48 

New  Jersey,  its  history  connected  with  j 
that  of  Pennsylvania,  41  ;  recovered 
from  the  British,    136 ;    ravages   of 
the  British  in,  137 

New  Sweden,  40 

New  York,  the  centre  colony  of  a  sub 
group,  39;  in  the  hands  of  the  English, 


41  ;  Congress  at,  71  ,  suspension  ol 
the  Assembly,  75  :  strengthening  ol 
its  fortifications,  128  ;  evacuation  of, 
by  the  Americans,  130  ;  evacuation 
of,  by  the  British,  209 

Newport  invested,  157 

No-Popery  riots  in  London,  179 

Norfolk,  burning  of,  116 

North-American  Indian,  what  he  is,  3  ; 
what  he  was,  4 ;  his  arts,  4  ;  lan 
guage,  6  ;  government,  6  ;  compared 
with  the  Australian  black,  5  ;  in 
feriority  of  women,  7  ;  beliefs,  7  ; 
mode  of  warfare,  8  ;  absence  of  the 
pastoral  element,  8  ;  his  morals  and 
endurance,  9  ;  general  character  of 
relations  between  the  red  and  white 
man,  n  ;  distinction  between  the 
Latin  and  Teutonic  races  in  re 
lation  to,  12 ;  success  of  Roman 
Catholic  nations  in  Christianising 
him,  12  ;  and  see  Indians,  Red  man 

North,  Lord,  76 ;  his  policy,  78 ;  at 
tempts  a  compromise  with  America, 
79  ;  his  new  measures,  88  ;  anxious 
to  retire,  146  ;  his  Conciliatory  Bills, 
150  ;  his  policy,  177,  198  j  fall  of 
his  ministry,  200 ;  his  resignation, 
201  ;  his  coalition  with  Fox,  206-7 

Nova  Scotia,  French  settlements  in, 
17  ;  population  of  French  in,  21 

QGLETHORPE,  James,  failure  ol 
^     his  plans,  36 ;   his   charter  and 

§overnment,     37  ;     hostilities    with 
pain,  38 

Ohio  Company,  59 
'Olive  Branch,'  the,  u  : 
Oliver,  71,  72 
Opechancanough,  28,  2^ 
Oswald,  Richard,  202 
Otis,  James,  69,  70 


pARIS,  peace  of,  62,  63 

Parliament,  debates  in,  1 12  ;  sup 
port  of  the  ministry  respecting 
American  affairs,  113;  proceedings 
regarding  the  war,  194  ;  and  the  sur 
render  of  Cornwallis,  198,  200-1 ;  the 
treaties  of  Paris  attacked  in.  207 

Peace,  preliminaries  of,  205,  206-7 

Penn,  Richard,  and  the  '  O!ivc  Branch, 
in 

Penn,  William,  42 

Pennsylvania,  the  last  founded  of  the 


Index. 


245 


religious  colonies,  42  ;  disaffection 
in,  134 

Penobscot  Bay,  the  British  in,  164 

Pequod  war  with  the  English,  49 

Peters,  Hugh,  48 

Philadelphia,  founded,  42  ;  continental 
congress  at,  84  ;  occupied  by  the 
British,  142  ;  rejoicings  in  England 
at  the  news  of  its  capture,  144  ; 
the  Capua  of  the  British  army,  148  ; 
evacuation  of,  by  the  British,  155  ; 
Washington  surrenders  his  commis 
sion  at,  210 

Philip,  King,  his  war  with  the  white 
men,  52-3 

Pilgrim  fathers,  43-6 

Pitt,  William  (afterwards  Earl  of 
Chatham),  62 ;  concurs  with  the 
American  resistance  of  the  Stamp 


make  him  premier,  152 ;  last  scene 

in  his  political  life,  152  ;  his  death, 

152 
Pitt,  William,   185 ;    opposed  to  the 

American  war,  194,  198  ;  chancellor 

of  the  exchequer,  203 
Plymouth,  council  of,  43,  48 ;  colony, 

Pocahontas,  28 

Poland,  ill  1775,92  ;  traditional  friend 
ship  with  France,  99 

Ponce  de  Leon,  discoverer  of  Florida, 
14. 

Pontiac's  war,  63-4 

Portland  ministry,  207 

Portugal  in  1775,  03 

Powhatan,  6,  28 

Prescott,Colonel,  defeated  at  Bunker's 
Hill,  107,  108 

Prevpst.  Colonel,  defeats  Lincoln  at 
Briar  s  Arch,  161 

Priestley,  102 

Princeton,  battle  of,  136 

Protestant  Association,  178 

Prussia  in  1775,  91-2  ;  and  seg  176, 
235, 238 

Pulaski,  141,  162,  170 

Putnam,  General,  defeated  at  Long 
Island,  128 


QUAKERISM  in  America,  42 
Quartering  Acts,  75 
Quebec,   storming  of,  by  Wolfe,  63  : 


attempted  storming  of  by  Americans, 

"5 


"D  ALEIGH,  his,  Attempts  at  coloni- 

*^     sation  in  Virginia,  26-7 

Rawdon,  Lord,  180,  191  ;  is  defeated 
by  Greene  in  South  Carolina,  193 

Rebellion,  proclamation  against,  in 

Red  man,  the,  3  ;  his  relations  with  the 
white  man,  u  ;  distinction  between 
the  Latin  and  Teutonic  races  in  re 
lation  to,  12  ;  success  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  nations  in  Christianising, 
1 2  ;  effect  of  the  war  on,  211 

Reed,  Colonel  Joseph,  122,  126,  134, 
158 

Restoration,  the{  52 

Revenue  Act,  failure  of,  80 

Revolution  of  1688,  54 

Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  101 

Rhode  Island,  48,  156 ;  dissolution  of 
colonial  government  in,  119 ;  re 
covered  by  the  British,  132  ;  evacua 
tion  by  the  British,  171  ;  her  negro 
battalion,  212 ;  abolishes  slavery, 
213 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  112,  145,  146, 
152,  168 

Rochambeau,  173,  196 

Rockingham,  73,  133,  146,  158,  201 

Rodney,  Admiral,  his  successes  at  sea, 
174 ;  takes  St.  Eustatius,  186 ;  his 
defeat  of  Count  de  Grasse  in  the 
West  Indies,  203 

Rousseau,  94-5  ;  his  death,  236 

Russia,  in  1775,  92  ;  its  declaration  of 
armed  neutrality,  176 ;  in  1783,  235  ; 
recognises  United  States,  238 

Rutledge,  107,  127,  130 


CT.  AUGUSTINE,  15 

°  St.  Eustatius,  taken  by  Rodney, 
but  retaken,  186 

Saratoga,  battle  of,  143  ;  gloomy  im 
pression  in  England  produced  by  its 
surrender,  145 

Savannah,  taken  by  the  British,  161 ; 
failure  of  the  French  and  Americans 
at,  170  ;  evacuated  by  the  British, 
204 

Schuyler,  General,  124,  140-1 

Scott,  Walter,  237 

Separatists,  43 ;  emigration  of,  44  , 
and  see  Pilgrim  fathers 


246 


Index. 


SHA 

Shaftesbury's  '  grand  model '  of  Caro 
lina,  35 

Snelburne,  Lord,  member  of  Lord 
Chatham's  cabinet,  76  ;  appointed 
manager  of  American  affairs,  201  ; 
as  prime  minister,  203  ;  fall  of  his 
ministry,  207 

Sheridan,  101,  185,  201 

Slavery,  in  Virginia,  27;  in  South 
Carolina,  36 ;  growth  of,  56 ;  royal 
traders  in,  56  ;  in  Africa,  57  ;  passage 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
struck  out,  124  ;  and  see  213 

Slave  trade,  56-7,  118,  209 ;  effect  of 
the  war  on,  213 

Smeaton,  103 

Smith,  Adam,  101 

Smith,  John,  his  adventures,  28 

Smith,  Lieut. -Colonel,  defeated  at 
Lexington,  104 

Sons  of  Liberty  organisations,  81 

Soto,  Ferdinand  de,  explorations  of,  14 

Spain,  colonies  of,  in  America,  14  ; 
position  in  America  after  the  treaty 
of  Paris,  1763, 16  ;  colonial  power  of, 
90;  the  only  power  with  France 
directly  interested  in  the  American 
struggle,  93  ;  in  1775,  93  ;  secretly 
aids  America,  118;  her  backwardness  ! 
in  going  to  war,  165  ;  war  convention 
with  France,  166  ;  at  war  with  Eng 
land,  167  ;  negotiations  stopped  by 
the  no- Popery  riots,  180;  successes  ! 
against  the  English,  1 86;  peace  with, 
206-7 ;  235 

Spaniards,  14 ;  discoveries  by,  in 
America,  14 

Stamp  Act,  1765,  69  ;  riots  caused  by 
its  introduction,  70,  71 ;  cannot  be 
carried  into  effect,  72 ;  repealed, 
1766,  73 

Standish,  47 

Steuben,  153,  192 

Still  water,  battle  of,  142 

Strachey  on  the  Indians,  4 

Strutt,  Jedediah,  101 

Stuart,  Colonel,  defeats  Greene  at 
Eutaw  Springs,  195 

Stuyvesant,  governor  of  New  Nether 
lands,  40 

Sullivan,  General,  joins  Washington, 
134 ;  devastates  the  Iroquois  coun 
try,  i<>4 

Sumpter,  Colonel,  180;  defeated  by 
Tarleton  at  Camden,  181 ;  and  de 
feats  him  at  Blackstock,  182  ;  192 

Sweden,  colonies  of,  in  America,  30  * 


in     1775,    93  :     recognises    United 
States,  238 


'•TARLETON,  defeats  Sumpter  at 
Camden,  181  ;  and  is  defeated 
by  him  at  Blackstock,  182;  defeated 
at  the  Cowpens,  190 

Tea,  Act  of  1770,  79  ;  repeal  of  Act, 
151 ;  destruction  of,  at  Boston,  81 

Thackeray,  on  colonial  charters  in 
America,  24 

Thirteen  English  colonies,  24 

Ticonderoga,  surrender  of,  105 

Tippoo  Sultan,  his  peace  with  Eng 
land,  207 

Tobacco,  growth  of,  in\     ^nia,  31,  32 

Trade  Act,  general  prohioition  of,  113 

Trenton,  surprise  of  the  British  at,  135 

Turgot,  96-7,  118 

Turkey  in  1775,  92 

Tuscaroras,  37 

Tryon,  Goyernor,  121,  163 


T  T  NCAS,  the  Mohegan,  49,  50 
U      Underbill,  John,  40 
United  colonies  of  New  England,  50 
United  States  acknowledged  as  free, 

206,  238 
Utrecht,  Peace  of,  37,  55,  56 

\f  ALLEY  FORGE,  Washington's 
v  winter  quarters,  147 

Vane,  Sir  Harry,  governor  of  Massa 
chusetts,  49 

Vergennes,  Count  de,  in,  119,  144, 
146,  204 

Venazzani,  his  discoveries,  i? 

Virginia,  early  attempts  at  colonisation 
in,  26  ;  colonisation  of,  27  ;  first  as 
sembly  in,  27  ;  effect  of  the  wars  on, 

28  ;  submits  to  the  Commonwealth, 

29  ;  its  restoration,  30 ;  its  distress, 
31  ;    effect  of  the  stoppage  of  the 
growth  of  tobacco  on,  31  ;  its  pros 
perity,  31  ;   disputes  about  its  go 
vernment,  34  ;    protests  against  the 
Boston  Port   Bill,  83 ;  a    Congress 
called  in,  83  ;  prepares  for  war,  89 ; 
dissolution  of  the   House   of  Bur 
gesses,  119  ;  ravages  in,  163  ;  cedes 
her  waste  lands  to  the  Union,  189 

Voltaire,  94-5,  97,  149  ;  his  return  to 
Paris,  235;  Ins  death.  2^5 


Tndez. 


347 


WAL 

\XTALPOLE,  Hoiace,  101,  no,  145, 
vv      150,   i5*-3,  165,  179,  185,  215, 

228 
War,  cost  of  the,  210-1  ;  paradoxes  of 

the,  215  and  foil. 

Washington  Fort,  surrender  of,  132 
Washington,  George,  takes  part  in 
the  French  and  Indian  war,  59,  60 ; 
his  bravery,  61  ;  defeats  the  French, 
62-3 ;  his  feelings  respecting  the 
conduct  of  England,  79  ;  at  the  con 
tinental  congress,  84;  disclaims  the 
idea  of  independence,  85  ;  in  com 
mand  of  independent  company,  89  ; 
appointed  commander-in-chief,  106 ; 
his  character,  106  ;  his  difficulties, 
108  :  before  Boston,  116-7 ;  at  New 
York,  120;  his  conduct  towards  the 
royal  commissioners,  127 ;  wretched 
state  of  his  army,  129  ;  evacuates 
New  York,  130  ;  his  retreat  through 
New  Jersey,  132  ;  outcry  in  America 
against  him,  133  ;  his  temporary 
military  dictatorship,  135  ;  attacks 
Trenton,  135  ;  defeats  Cornwallis  at 
Princeton,  136;  recovers  New  Jersey, 
136  ;  his  winter  difficulties,  136 ;  is 
defeated  at  Brandywine,  141  ;  his  re 
treat,  1^2  ;  renewed  outcry  against, 
142  ;  his  winter  quarters  at  Valley 
Forge,  137 ;  his  army  during  the 
winter  of  1778-9,  162  ;  his  policy, 
162  ;  starving:  state  of  his  army,  172  ; 
mutiny  in  his  army,  188  ;  junction 
with  the  French,  196 ;  marches  to 
Virginia,  197  ;  defers  Cornw*llis  at 


Wat! 


you 

Yorktown,  197  ;  offered  the  crown, 
203  ;  discontent  of  his  officers,  207  , 
is  thanked  by  Congress,  aio;  suc 
cess  of  American  war  mainly  due  to 
him,  230 ;  character  of  his  greatness, 
232 ;  compared  with  Wellington, 
233  ;  a  thorough  Englishman,  234  r 
president  of  the  United  States,  Z3& 
att,  102 

Wedgwood,  102 

Wellesley,  Arthur  (Duke  of  Welling 
ton),  103  ;  compared  to  Washington, 
233 

Weston's  colony,  47 

White,  Colonel,  ludicrous  success  of, 
170 

White  man,  the,  14;  Spaniards,  14, 
French,  16  ;  English,  22  ;  advance 
ment  of  in  consequence  of  the  wai 
212 

White  Plains,  engagement  at,  131 

Whitefield,  38 

Wilkes,  John,  100,  112,  133 

Williams,  Roger,  founder  of  Rhode 
Island,  48 

Wolfe,  63 

Wyoming  massacres,  158 


YAMASSEES,  37 
1      Yorkshire  Committee,  177 
Yorktown,  Cornwallis  at,  195  ,  invested 

by  the  French  and  Americans,  197  ; 

surrendered    by  Cornwallu   to   the 

Americans,  i  >8 
Young,  Arthur,   icn 


Printed  by  BALLANTYNE,  HANSON  &°  Co. 
Edinburgh  &  London 


HISTORICAL  WORKS  FOR  SCHOOLS. 


OUTLINE  OF  ENGLISH  HISTORY,  B.C.  55— A.D.  1901, 

By  S.  R.  GARDINER,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  Fellow  of  Merton  College,  Oxford. 
with  71  Woodcuts  and  17  Maps.  Fcap.  8vo.  2s.  6d. 

A   STUDENT'S   HISTORY   OF   ENGLAND.    From   the 

Earliest  Times  to  1885.  By  SAMUEL  RAWSON  GARDINER,  D.C.I,., 
LL.D.  In  One  Volume.  With  378  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  12^. 

Vol.      I.  (B.C.  55— A. D.  1509).     With  173  Illustrations.     Crown  8vo.  4*. 
Vol.    II.  (1509-1689).     With  96  Illustrations.     Crown  8vo.  4*. 
Vol.  III.  (1689-1885).     With  109  Illustrations.     Crown  8vo.  45. 

PREPARATORY  QUESTIONS  ON  S.  R.  GARDINER'S 
STUDENT'S  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  By  R.  SOMER- 
VELL,  M.A.,  Assistant  Master  of  Harrow  School.  Crown 
8vo.  is. 

A  CLASS-BOOK  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     Designed 

for  the  Use  of  Students  preparing  for  the  University  Local  Examina 
tions  or  for  the  London  Univerc'ty  Matriculation,  and  for  the  Higher 
Classes  of  Elementary  School?  By  the  Rev.  D.  MORRIS,  B.A.  With 
4  Historical  Maps,  20  Plans  o.  Battles,  and  30 other  Illustrations.  Fcap. 
8vo,  3*.  6d. 

HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.    For  the  Use  of  Schools.    By 

F.  YORK  POWELL,  M.A.,  and  T.  F.  TOUT,  M.A.  With  Maps  and 
Plans.  Crown  8vo,  -/s.  6d.  To  be  had  also  in  Three  Parts  : — 

Part  I.— FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  DEATH  OF 
HENRY  VII.     By  F.  YORK  POWELL,  M.A.     Crown  8vo,  2s.  6d. 

Part  II. -FROM  THE  ACCESSION  OF  HENRY  VIII.  TO  THE 
REVOLUTION  OF  1689.     By  T.  F.  TOUT,  M.A.     2*.  6d. 

Part    III.— WILLIAM    AND    MARY    TO    THE     DEATH     OF 
VICTORIA.     By  T.  F.  TOUT,  M.A.     Crown  8vo,  zs.  6d 

A    SHORT    HISTORY    OF     ENGLAND    FROM    THE 

EARLIEST  TIMES  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY.  With  Tables, 
Plans,  Maps,  Index,  &c.  By  CYRIL  RANSOME,  M.A.  Crown  8vo, 
3-y.  6d. 

\*  Or,  in  Two  Parts,  zs.  each. 

THE  RISE  OF  CONSTITUTIONAL  GOVERNMENT  IN 

ENGLAND.  Being  a  Series  of  Twenty  Lectures  on  the  History  of 
the  English  Constitution  delivered  to  a  Popular  Audience.  By  CYRIL 
RANSOME,  M.A.  Crown  8vo,  6s. 

THE    ELEMENTS    OF    ENGLISH    CONSTITUTIONAL 

HISTORY  FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIME  TO  THE  PRESENT 
DAY  (1895).  By  F.  C.  MONTAGUE,  M.A.  Crown  8vo,  3*.  6d. 

LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND   CO. 

LONDON,  NEW  YORK,  AND  BOMBAY. 


EPOCHS    OF    ANCIENT     HISTORY. 

EDITED   BY   THE 

Rev.  Sir  G.  W.  COX,  Bart.,  M.A.,  and  by  C.  SANKEY,  M.A. 
10  Volumes,  fcp.  8vo.,  with  Maps,  price  2s.  6d.  each. 

GREECE. 
THE  GREEKS  AND  THE 

PERSIANS  (B.C.  56o-B.c.  478). 

By  the  Rev.  Sir  G.  W.  Cox, 

Bart.,  M.A.    4  Maps. 
THE    ATHENIAN    EMPIRE 

from  the   Flight   of  Xerxes    to 

the  Fall  of  Athens  (B.C.   479- 

B.C.  405).     By  the  Rev.  Sir  G. 

W.  Cox,  Bart,  M.A.    5  Maps. 

ROME. 
EARLY  ROME  TO  ITS  CAP-   I 

TURE  BY  THE  GAULS  (B.C. 

754-B.c.    390).    By     WILHELM 

IHNE.    With  a  Map. 
ROME     AND     CARTHAGE, 

THE  PUNIC  WARS  (B.C.  264- 

B.C.  140).      By  R.  BOSWORTH 

SMITH,    M.A.     With   9  Maps 

and  Plans. 


THE  GRACCHI,  MARIUS 
AND  SULLA  (B.C.  133-3.0.  78). 
By  A.  H.  BEESLY,  M.A.  With 
2  Maps. 

THE  ROMAN  TRIUMVI 
RATES  (B.C.  78-B.c.  31).  By 


THE  SPARTAN  AND  THE- 
BAN  SUPREMACIES  (B.C. 
404-B.c.  361).  By  CHARLE? 
SANKEV,  M.A.  5  Maps. 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  MACE- 
DONIAN  EMPIRE  (B.C.  700 
B.C.  323).  By  ARTHUR  M. 
CURTEIS,  M.A.  8  Maps. 


the  Very  Rev.  CHARLES  MERI- 
VALE,  D.D.,  late  Dean  of  Ely. 
With  a  Map. 


THE         EARLY        ROMAN 

EMPIRE.  From  the  Assassin 
ation  of  Julius  Caesar  to  the 
Assassination  of  Domitian  (B.C. 
44-A.D-96).  By  Rev.  W.WOLFE 
CAPES,  M.A.  With  2  Maps. 


THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE  OF 
THE  SECOND  CENTURY, 
or  the  Age  of  the  Antonines 
(A.D.  g6-A.D.  180).  By  Rev.  W. 
WOLFE  CAPES,  M.A.  2  Maps. 


EPOCHS    OF 


ENGLISH     HISTORY. 

Edited   by   MANDELL   CREIGHTON,   D.D.    LL.D. 

LATE    BISHOP    OF    LONDON. 

EARLY  ENGLAND  TO  THE 
NORMAN  CONQUEST.  By 
F.  YORK  POWELL,  M.A.  is. 


THE  STRUGGLE  AGAINST 
ABSOLUTE  MONARCHY, 
1603-1688.  By  Mrs.  S.  R. 
GARDINER,  gd. 

THE  SETTLEMENT  OF 
THE  CONSTITUTION. 
1689-1784.  By  JAMES  ROWLEY, 
M.A.  gd. 

ENGLAND    DURING    THE 
AMERICAN   AND    EURO- 
PEAN  WARS.   1765-1820.    By 
the  Rev.  O.  W.  TANCOCK.    gd. 
MODERN    ENGLAND.  1820- 
1897.     By    OSCAR   BROWNING 
LL.D.      gd.  !  M.A.     gd. 

EPOCHS   OF   ENGLISH    HISTORY.     Complete  in  One  Volume, 

with  27  Tables  and  Pedigrees,  and  23  Maps.     Fcp.  8vo.  5*. 
THE   SHILLING    HISTORY    OF    ENGLAND:    being  an  intro 
ductory  Volume  to  the  Series  of  Epochs  of  English  History.     Bj 
MANDELL  CREIGHTON,  D.D.  LL.D.     Fcp.  8vo.  is. 


ENGLAND  A  CONTINEN 
TAL  POWER.  1066-1216.  By 
Mrs.  MANDELL  CREIGHTON.  gd. 

THE  RISE  OFTHE  PEOPLE 
AND  THE  GROWTH  OF 
PARLIAMENT.  1215-1485. 
By  JAMES  ROWLEY,  M.A.gr/. 

THE  TUDORS  AND  THE 
REFORMATION,  1485-1603. 
By  MANDELLCREIGHTON,  D.D. 


HISTORICAL  WORKS  FOR  SCHOOLS. 


A  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.   By  the  Rev.  J.  FRANCK  BRIGHT,  D.D., 

Master  of  University  College,  Oxford. 

Period    I.— MEDIAEVAL    MONARCHY:    The  Departure  of   the 
Romans,  to  Richard  III.     From  A.D.  449  to  1485.     4$.  6d. 

Period  II.— PERSONAL  MONARCHY:   Henry  VII.  to  James  II. 
From  1485  to  1688.     55. 

Period  III.-CONSTITUTIONAL    MONARCHY:    William    and 
Mary,  to  William  IV.     From  1689  to  1837.     7$.  6d. 

Period  IV.— THE  GROWTH  OF  DEMOCRACY:  Victoria.     From 
1837  to  1880.     6s. 

A  HANDBOOK  IN  OUTLINE  OF  THE  POLITICAL  HISTORY 

OF  ENGLAND  TO  1901.  Chronologically  arranged.  By  the  Right 
Hon.  A.  H.  DYKE  ACLAND,  and  CYRIL  RANSOME,  M.A.  Cr.  8vo,  6s. 

A  HANDBOOK  IN  OUTLINE  OF  ENGLISH  POLITICS  :FOR 

THE  LAST  HALF  CENTURY.  Extracted  from  "A  Handbook 
of  English  Political  History.  With  Appendices  on  the  Reform  Bills, 
Disfranchised  and  Enfranchised  Boroughs,  &c.  By  the  Right  Hon. 
A.  H.  DYKE  ACLAND,  and  CYRIL  RANSOME,  M.A.  Crown  8vo, 
clobh,  is.  6d.  ',  sewed,  is. 

A  SKELETON  OUTLINE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND : 

being  an  Abridgment  of  "A  Handbook  in  Outline  of  the  Political 
History  of  England."  By  the  Right  Hon.  A.  H.  DYKE  ACLAND, 
and  CYRIL  RANSOME,  M.A.  Fcp.  8vo,  is.  6d. 

A  SKELETON  OUTLINE  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

FOR  BEGINNERS.  With  Maps.  By  the  Right  Hon.  A.  H.  DYKE 
ACLAND,  and  CYRIL  RANSOME,  M.A.  Fcp.  8vo,  gd. 

A    TEXT-BOOK    OF    ENGLISH   HISTORY,     By  OSMUND  AIRY, 

M.A.,  one  of  H,  M.  Inspectors  of  Schools,  With  16  Maps.  Crown 
8vo,  45-.  6d.  Or  in  Three  Parts.  Part.  T,  (B.C.  55-A  D.  1307),  2f 
Part  II.  (1307-1689),  zs.  Part  III-  (1689-1887),  2*. 

***  Each  Part  contains  an  Appendix,  including  a  full  Summary  of  Events, 
Glossary  of  Terms,  Genealogical  Tables,  Treaties,  &c.  &c. 

A  FIRST  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.     By  LOUISE  CREIGHTON. 

i6mo,  zs.  6d. 

STORIES  FROM  ENGLISH  HISTORY.  By  LOUISE  CREIGHTON 
i6mo,  35.  (xt* 

SIMPLE  STORIES  FROM  ENGLISH  HISTORY:  For  Young 
Readers.  With  6  Illustrations  in  Colours  and  55  in  Black  and  White. 
Crown  8vo,  is.  6d. 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

LONDON,  NEW  YORK,  AND  BOMBAY. 


HISTORICAL   WORKS   FOR   SCHOOLS. 


A  HISTORY  OF  ROME  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  CJESAR. 

By  W.  W.  How,  M.A.,  Fellow  and  Lecturer  of  Merton  College, 
Oxford,  and  H.  D.  LEIGH,  M.A.,  Fellow  and  Tutor  of  Corpus  Christ! 
College,  Oxford.  With  9  Lithographed  Maps,  12  Maps  and  Plans  in 
the  Text,  and  numerous  Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  js.  6d. 

GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  From  the  Foundation 

of  the  City  to  the  Fall  of  Augustulus,  B.C.  753 — A.D.  476.     By  the 

Very  Rev.  CHARLES  MsRivAtE,  D.D.  With  5  Maps.  Crown  8vo, 
7$.  6d. 

SCHOOL  HISTORY  OF  ROME.  Abridged  from  Dean 
MERIVALE'S  General  History  of  Rome,  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Author.  By  C.  PULLER,  M.A.  With  13  full-page  Maps.  Fcap. 
8vo,  3^.  6d. 

A    SKELETON    OUTLINE     OF    ROMAN     HISTORY. 

Chronologically  arranged.  By  P.  E.  MATHESON,  M.A.  Fcap. 
8vo,  2.5.  6d. 

A  FIRST  HISTORY  OF  ROME.     By  W.  S.  ROBINSON, 

M.A.     With  Illustrations  and  Maps.     i8mo,  2$.  6d. 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  ROMANS.    For  the  Use  of  Middle 

Forms  of  Schools.     By  R.  F.  HORTON,  M.A.     Crown  8vo,  3$.  6d. 

A  GENERAL  HISTORY  OF  GREECE.    From  the  Earliest 

Period  to  the  Death  of  Alexander  the  Great ;  with  a  Sketch  of  the 
subsequent  History  to  the  Present  Time.  By  the  Rev.  Sir  G.  W.  Cox, 
Bart.,  M.A.  With  n  Maps  and  Plans.  Crown  8vo,  7.?.  6d. 

A  SKELETON  OUTLINE  OF  GREEK  HISTORY.    Chrono* 

logically  Arranged.  By  EVELYN  ABBOTT,  M.A.,  LL.D.  Fcap.  8vo, 
2s.  6d. 

A  HISTORY  OF  GREECE.     For  .the  Use  of  Upper  Forms 

of  Schools.     By  EVELYN  ABBOTT,  M.A.,  LL,D.     Crown  8vo. 
part  I. — From  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Ionian  Revolt.     ios.  6d.     Part 
II.— 500-445  B.C.     ioj.  6tt.     Part  III.— From  the  Peace  of  445  n.C. 
to  the  Fall  of  the  Thirty  at  Athens  in  403  B.C.     ios.  6d. 

A   HISTORY   OF    GREECE    FROM    THE    EARLIEST 

TIMES  TO  THE  DEATH  OF  ALEXANDER  THE  GREAT. 
By  C.  W.  C.  OMAN,  M.A.,  F.S.A.  With  13  Maps  and  Plans  and  84 
Illustrations.  Crown  8vo,  4.?.  6d. 


LONGMANS,     GREEN,     AND     CO. 

LONDON,  NEW  YORK,  AND  BOMBAY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $t.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


€T  30  1933 
311088 


24 


JUN    8    1 


,  i»4 Mi  a 


045/0 


